


Reign Supreme

by saltylikecrait



Series: Supreme Leader Rey [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Arguing, Attempted Murder, Babies, Compromise, Diplomacy, Drama, Dreams and Nightmares, F/M, First Order Politics (Star Wars), Mild Sexual Content, Military, Pregnancy, Romance, Stillbirth, Stormtrooper Culture, Supreme Leader Rey, Tragedy, Women's Health
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-20
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-07-09 11:02:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 47,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19886527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saltylikecrait/pseuds/saltylikecrait
Summary: Captain Finn is certain that his time as the favorite of the Supreme Leader will be brief, but as he grows closer to her and rises in the ranks of the First Order, he becomes unsure of where he fits in the grander scheme of things. The Supreme Leader herself is unsure of how to bring order back to the galaxy when her own grip on the Order is shaky. Together, they find themselves a match to be reckoned with.





	1. Chapter 1

“Cake?” 

Captain Finn looked down at the dessert curiously. Slices were already cut, making it simple for the Supreme Leader and her guest to slide pieces onto their plates. He noted the red sponge, covered by a thin layer of white icing, and wondered how sweet it would be. Soldiers such as himself were not used to such luxuries and only got to enjoy something sugary like cake for the rare celebration. Tasting victory was sweet enough, he was always told as a cadet, and there was always more work to do. 

Sliding two pieces onto plates, he offered one to the Supreme Leader, which she took with a murmur of thanks and a smile. If Finn had not frequented her dinner table, he would have been shocked by her manners and the odd display of graciousness she showed him. Originally, he thought this would be a short-term situation. He had captured the Supreme Leader’s attention and spent a couple of evenings a week sharing her dinner and her bed, expecting that within a few weeks she would move on to someone else and reward him for his favors by promoting him or giving him better quarters.

Instead, he was being invited to eat with her regularly and that their nights were not always spent between the sheets. Rey – as she insisted he call her in private – started to share other parts of her life with him. Some nights, the passion was understated where Rey preferred the exchange of gentle kisses and drinking a glass of wine while watching whatever holodrama she uploaded from the New Republic’s uncensored HoloNet. Other nights, she would sit next to him and discuss the latest news and situations within the ranks of the First Order. It was in the Supreme Leader's interest to know as much about her troops and their morale as possible. Brute force alone did not win wars.

Whatever it was between them, Finn realized that it wasn’t just an affair to keep the Supreme Leader occupied and sated.

Rey’s eyes darted from the cake slowly, up to Finn’s face. Her eyes were dark, even in the dim light. 

“I’d much rather have you than the cake,” she said, cheeks tinting pink. He had noticed that she was trying to be more daring around him lately. It wasn’t the first time she tried to be sultry, only for her confidence to wane. The first time he saw her in the throne room without her helmet, which was when he realized that she was interested in him for more than just his regular reports, Rey tried her best to sit on the throne as suggestive as possible, flustered and uncomfortable. Finn had wanted to laugh, but he didn’t know Rey then and didn’t know how the Supreme Leader would take to being laughed at.

“That can be arranged,” he purred. Finn would admit that the freedom of being behind closed doors was exciting and he was also trying out his own boldness with her. “Here or-?”

Then, her demeanor changed. With a frown, she looked away from him, reaching for a bottle of pills she kept close to her on the table. She dispensed one into her palm and popped it into her mouth, swallowing it down with water. As she set the glass down, she looked embarrassed and humiliated.

“Not tonight,” she sighed. “I’m not-"

Something was wrong. Finn had his suspicions, but he wasn’t sure if she would take kindly to questioning. The first time they tumbled into bed together, he knew she felt discomfort and still insisted they continue. She never quite seemed to relax even after they were finished either. Finn recalled his nerves as he watched her press her hand against her lower abdomen, as if the pressure would soothe the pain. Stormtroopers were never educated in sex the way Finn thought they should, but he had heard some female cadets complain that the first time always hurts, so he thought it was a woman thing. Then, out of his own curiosity and growing concern that he might be hurting her, Finn did his own research by hacking into the uncensored HoloNet. He tried introducing all the recommended solutions to her, but either they didn’t seem to work, or Rey was not that interested in trying them. Slowly, he realized that she had some idea of what was wrong and just wasn’t saying anything until the pill bottle that she always kept close became almost as frequent of a guest in the Supreme Leader’s suite as her lover.

Not that it was always bad, or that Rey seemed to hate the act itself. There were good days and bad days and she knew him well enough to trust him when she asked him to stop. If he did anything she didn’t like… well, he was certain that the Supreme Leader would make her displeasure known one way or another. 

Her face made a grimace again, and she shifted in her chair uncomfortably. “Tell me about your name,” she said.

"My name?” he asked, blinking.

“How you got it,” she clarified. “It seems like an odd name for a stormtrooper.”

It was an odd name, and it was never one that he had earned from his fellow troops. A name was something many stormtroopers longed for, but few reached a position where one would be bestowed upon them. The rest had to settle for nicknames given to them by their squadmates. For all that being the top of his class got Finn in terms of praise by his superiors, it also alienated from the people he wanted camaraderie the most from. His classmates had expected that one day he would be giving them orders, and that made it hard for him to get a chance to be close to any of them. There had been Slip… but he wasn’t sure how much of a friendship that really had been. Often, it felt more like Slip had relied on Finn to lift him up and avoid trouble with Captain Phasma and the rest of the trainers. If Finn had ever tried to go to Slip with a problem of his own, Slip conveniently was too busy to listen or couldn’t give any solid advice.

…But he should not think ill of the dead.

Standing up, Finn walked over to the large leather sofa on the other side of the open room. Retrieving a blanket folded over the seat, he held it open, gesturing for Rey to sit beside him. When she sat down, he wrapped the blanket around their shoulders and placed his arm around her waist, which then led her to lean her head against his shoulder.

She was tired but refused to show it.

“I didn’t have a nickname or anything before,” he began. “Not popular enough for that.”

"I find that hard to believe.” Rey smiled.

“No, it’s true. I never had friends back in training and I just… couldn’t connect to anyone in the ranks… before I met you.” It was daring of him to say that, but Rey did not seem taken aback by this. 

“The name came from a Resistance pilot that I was escorting to airlock. He knew he was going to die, but he talked to all the stormtroopers like they were friends. I think he was hoping we’d pity him and let him go. My call sign is FN-2187, and so, he called me Finn. It was the only name anyone had ever given to me before.”

He thought back to the pilot, face bloodied and eyes shocked and full of hope. Remembered seeing the man’s face in the viewport of a TIE fighter one last time as he rushed through a crowd of white armor, panting while he found himself praying for the first time in his life.

No one could know, he reminded himself. There were some things that even he was smart enough to know would just bring him trouble.

A squeeze on his hand brought him back to the present. 

“I like your name,” Rey whispered.

Not knowing how to respond, Finn leaned in and kissed her.

“How was your meeting with the General?” he asked when they broke apart.

Rey groaned and slumped back. “I actually think he’s made me sick,” she half-laughed. “He made some vague threats about how I would hand the Resistance a victory, blah-blah-blah… You know how he is.”

The fact that Finn knew _exactly_ how General Hux was made him anxious. “What did you do to make him so angry?” Hux was not known to act so hostile to his superiors – well, except Kylo Ren – but even Finn thought that he would have been groveling at Rey’s feet the way he had for Supreme Leader Snoke by now. Calculating to the end, Hux always seemed to read the room and know how to act to get his way… it might be why he was still alive.

She leaned forward again and fiddled with a loose string from the blanket. Suddenly quiet, Finn waited for her response. 

“I forbade him from using Starkiller today,” she finally answered.

Finn almost sputtered. “What?”

“He wanted to use it on a system that might house the Resistance,” she explained. “He had no solid evidence that they are there. I told him he could come back to me with the request when he had proof.”

“But if the Resistance is there-"

“I can’t have him blasting worlds to bits whenever he has the urge to,” Rey snapped, her face darkening with rage. “We destroyed D’Qar because we tracked them there, but somehow, they knew they were the targets and got away. Or maybe, they were never on D’Qar to begin with. It should be enough that we have something to hold over the galaxy. We want to create an empire, not rule over ashes and rubble.”

Realizing she had a point, Finn still could not calm his racing heart. “Hux is not a person to make an enemy of,” he told her.

“Don’t you think I know that?” She arched an eyebrow. “He’s got loyal followers all around him. But even with all of them on his side, I don’t think he could have dethroned Kylo, if he was in my place instead.” She shook her head. “No, Hux needs to learn that I’m not Snoke and that I won’t let him do whatever he wants. He follows my orders. I inherited this war; I will see that it ends with the First Order as victorious.”

Taking a deep breath, Finn reached over to tuck a strand of hair that had fallen out of her favorite three buns behind her ear. “I have all my faith in you.”

They sat in silence after this, Rey leaning up against Finn. He wrapped his arms around her, covering her crossed arms that sat over her lower abdomen with his and stroked her skin gently.

“Are you feeling any better?”

She shuffled in her spot. “A little,” she said in a tiny voice. It was a stark contrast to the confidence she usually kept in her voice, or at least feigned.

Normally, he would have his reservations about trying to give her advice about this subject, but he hated seeing her like this and it was becoming far more noticeable now that he frequented his nights with her. “Have you asked someone from Medical to check on you?” he asked. “They might have-"

“I’ve been to them before,” she huffed. “Useless lot. They prod me with instruments that might as well be used for torturing our prisoners and then declare me healthy while writing me up a prescription for pain meds.”

He frowned at this. Being given pain medication implied that there was something wrong, but if no one was giving her answers…

“Have you been there since you became Supreme Leader?” He was curious to see if they would treat her differently now, though she had been a Knight of Ren before and he would have thought they would have given her the utmost attention.

Rey shook her head. “What’s the point?” she finally sighed. “This has been going on for years. The pain meds work and no one seems to have any idea what's wrong with me. Scans and tests keep coming back normal.” Her nose scrunched at the thought. If the conversation hadn’t been so serious, Finn would have found it cute.

Finn didn’t know how to respond to her.

For the rest of the night, they enjoyed each other’s company until Rey decided it was time for her to try to sleep.

“Are you staying the night?” She looked hopeful, worrying her lip between her teeth. As the Supreme Leader, she could easily just order him to stay with her and he would have to obey; instead she was asking him to see what he would decide on his own accord. She was testing the waters of their relationship. This wasn’t a typical fling anymore.

And well, he rather enjoyed her company now that she wasn’t keeping up pretenses like she had at the start. The Supreme Leader was human after all.

Realizing he hadn’t answered her, he looked back at her to see the starting point for rejection and devastation etched upon her face. To soothe her worries, he went back to stroking the skin on her arm.

“I won’t bother you?” he asked. He has stayed the night before, but not when they hadn’t passionately tumbled into bed together.

Shaking her head, she craned her neck to look up at him again. “No.” Then she gripped his arm. “I enjoy having you around,” she confessed.

“Then,” he began, “I’ll be happy to stay the night.”

With a wide smile, Rey stood up and reached for his hand to urge him up. He didn’t reject her request and followed her into the bedroom suite of the private apartment. Rey was having the interior redecorated to her tastes, though nothing would hide the grandiose purpose of the rooms. There still was lots of metallics and reds like in the throne room that she wanted to wash out.

Her bedroom had been the first thing that she had remodeled, refusing to sleep in a room that reminded her of her former masters. She had stayed in her old quarters for weeks while the master suite was redecorated and by the time she started inviting Finn to dinner, it was complete.

Even with the metal walls of the _Supremacy,_ Rey had asked them to be stained lighter and now they shone a pristine white that reminded Finn of the silver of moonlight. With the added touches from Rey, it almost made it feel like they were not with the First Order, but somewhere else where luxury was given to them. He noted her fondness for green, if the emerald bed spread and jade vases full of flowers were any hint. With how clean the room was, it was almost a shame to ruin the neatness of the bedding to go to sleep, even if he knew the droids would be in to make things tidy again in the morning.

He helped Rey with removing the too many pillows stacked on the bed that seemed almost pointless to have, and untucked the sheets and comforter on each side so they could slip in. Then, he laid on his back as he had always done and watched as Rey snuggled in at his side before he reached for a switch on the end table near him to turn off the lights.

Though she shifted uncomfortably in her sleep occasionally and woke up once to take another pill, Finn slept better than he ever had in the bunks with the other stormtroopers.

* * *

There was nothing ceremonious when Finn stood in the office of General Hux and was promoted to major. There were only four officers in the room besides Hux: Captains Phasma and Cardinal, Lieutenant Mitaka, and someone ranked as a commander who Finn did not recognize.

“Your actions on Crait have earned you the loyalty of many of your men, Captain,” began Hux.

Finn did not make a response as he waited for the General to finish. Truth be told, ever since he started seeing the Supreme Leader in private, he wanted to stay out of the spotlight as much as possible. Already, there had been whispers of favoritism among the ranks and he was hoping to prove that his position had nothing to do with the woman he had shared his nights with. He worked hard to get here, even if he didn't always agree with the strategic choices of his fellow officers. The First Order taught all their cadets from the start that war wasn't easy. Sacrifices would be made. Not everyone would live the see the dawn of the First Order's reign. Stepping on the battlefield for the first time hit those points home.

It seemed his efforts did not go unnoticed. Crait had been an easy victory according to some, but Finn had seen enough bodies of stormtroopers litter the white salt field to know better. The Resistance fought their hardest considering their dwindling numbers, and it sounded to Finn like some of them had escaped, including their leader, Leia Organa.

A familiar face had been on the fields that day, one that Finn had hoped to never see again. Likely, the pilot had not recognized Finn without his helmet off as he led a small group of ski-speeders making a foolish but commendable attempt to approach the battering ram cannon. They had chased the group around the galaxy once they figured out the Resistance knew their base had been targeted by Starkiller. Hux had not suspected that Organa’s group would know the whereabouts of the base, and hence would not know they were the weapon’s next target. This led the First Order to mistakenly believe that they had an easy victory over the New Republic and the Resistance. All TIE squadrons had been called back to stay out of range of the attack; it hadn’t been thought necessary to send part of the fleet near the area if it ensured victory.

It was the First Order’s arrogance that allowed the Resistance to slip away with no sign of where they were headed. Around that time, Supreme Leader Snoke’s fury against Hux was so well known that it was assumed that the General would not be around for long.

Rey had never told Finn what happened the night that she slayed both Snoke and Kylo Ren, but he had wondered if that had been connected to Hux’s failings and the Resistance’s escape. The timing had not gone unnoticed by those in the ranks. One moment, all seemed like it was going according to plan, the next it seemed like the First Order was crumbling under its own might.

It took weeks for the First Order to track the Resistance down on a backwater, abandoned salt planet. Before Rey gave permission for the First Order to do anything, she wanted a full report to make sure the Resistance was really there. They had no use for salt mines, but they also didn’t have use for a waste of time.

So, Captain Finn found himself deployed to Crait to lead the cruiser _Vanquisher_ to aid the Frist Order in their victory. It didn’t take him long to spot the familiar pilot in those ski speeders and realize what they were planning. Those cannons were touchy and if the Resistance landed a hit, it could have erupted into a massive explosion, taking countless ground troops with it. He gave the order to have the ATs on the ground strike at the speeders. It was uncertain if any Resistance members were lost in the attack, but it forced them to turn around and abandon their assault on the cannon.

It was this act he assumed got him here, standing in front of General Hux himself, though he also assumed that Hux was taking his frustrations with Rey out on him, the Supreme Leader’s Toy, as the troops called him when they thought he wasn’t listening.

“Sir,” Finn acknowledged, deciding that silence would best serve him in this situation. He spent hours on his gray uniform to make sure it was perfect before he walked into this room. There was no place for sloppiness, not when there was already a suspicion that he was only moving through the ranks because he was sleeping with the Supreme Leader. He had been promoted to Captain before he met Rey, but he didn’t expect others to make that correlation or to care. Besides, what he and Rey did behind closed doors was none of their business.

It was Captain Phasma that spoke next. “Under recommendation of Captain Cardinal and myself, we have brought to General Hux the request to give you a promotion.”

In his red armor, Captain Cardinal nodded. Finn might have held the same rank as them, but for Phasma and Cardinal, being a captain was more of an endearing term. In reality, they held far higher ranks than most; perhaps even second only to General Hux himself. The only reason they were called _Captain_ was out of custom for the cadet program that they oversaw. Phasma, in particular, was a close associate of Hux. 

Finn wondered if she harbored any contempt for him in the same way that he believed Hux did. There were moments during his training under her that he thought she was disappointed in him, if she wasn't reprimanding him with that cold anger of hers. He really didn’t want to make an enemy of Phasma.

Hux stood up from his desk. “And I approve of the request,” he said, though his response made him seem uninterested, even bored. “Congratulations, _Major.”_

Finn saluted before he turned around and marched out the room. He was certain that if he returned to his quarters that he would find a new uniform for himself. The gray uniform would no longer suit the role. Rather, he would wear teal from now on to signify his standing as a senior officer. At only the age of 24 standard years, Finn was already given a senior rank. Even if he had the sinking feeling that some of this was attributed to his attachment to the Supreme Leader, there had always been expectation placed on him that he would go far in the ranks. It was why he was never given a nickname; Finn was _one of those_ stormtroopers. He supposed that this proved it. 

“Watch yourself, Major,” came a voice behind him.

He turned around, startled out of his thoughts. Cardinal had walked out of the room behind him.

“Sir?” he asked.

“I said, watch yourself.” The red helmet looked him up and down. “We’ve never had a favorite of the Supreme Leader in the ranks before, at least, not the kind you are to her. This promotion will get the troops talking.”

Finn nodded when he understood what Cardinal was talking about. “I just follow orders, sir,” he replied though he was trying to make sure it didn’t sound like he was getting defensive. “My actions are not made because I’m looking for a promotion.”

_“I_ know that,” said Cardinal. “But _they_ aren’t going to see it that way.”

He stood close to Finn, looking through his helmet directly at Finn’s face. 

“You’ll make me proud, Major,” he said. “Dismissed.”

Finn saluted again and lengthened his stride to make his journey back to his quarters just a little bit quicker than usual.

As expected, he found a new uniform to change into along with keys to new lodgings; private quarters actually, though he was not sure how often he would use them. Most nights, he slept besides Rey. The only time he used these old quarters was when she was away, or he got back from an assignment late so he wouldn’t bother her.

He checked his messages on his datapad when he dropped his duffel bag full of the few things that were issued to him in his new assigned lodgings. Rey had already heard the news of his promotion and she wanted to celebrate with him. Their communications always were formal in wording, even if it was increasingly becoming unnecessary. The Supreme Leader didn’t have to have a reason to invite someone to her private apartment, especially now that it seemed like everyone knew that Finn was her favorite. He didn’t like that term either, but he wasn’t sure what else to call himself. _Favorite_ was used by other high-ranking officers regarding those that they preferred the company of. Finn knew this didn’t always imply a sexual relationship, but it happened enough that this is what the term became associated with. Sometimes, he knew favorites were not always happy with being in that position and he felt pity for them.

Perhaps he could bring this up with Rey later. Surely, she would lend a listening ear and at least humor Finn that the well-being of the troops was at least something she took to heart.

Turning into another corridor, Finn found himself face to face with the chrome armor of Captain Phasma and a small squad of stormtroopers she was marching. 

“Ah, look who it is,” she hummed. “Major FN-2187. Going to model your new uniform to the Supreme Leader? I bet she will just _love_ that.”

“Captain,” he greeted, trying to ignore the rest of what she said.

“You know, if I hadn’t trained you myself, I would think this promotion was an abuse of your… position.”

He said nothing to respond to her, knowing she wanted to see if she could rouse his anger. A good cadet knew when to respond and when to ignore the enemy’s banter. Phasma had not taught him that, but Cardinal did, and Finn trusted his mentor’s wisdom.

“It is an honor to be given this promotion,” he said, trying to slip past her. “Thank you for your recommendation. Good evening, Captain.”

“Good evening, Major.”

Finn walked the corridors to the upper levels of the _Supremacy_ as swiftly as possible. He wasn’t angry, but it bothered and confused him to hear Phasma’s opinions of him after she put in her approval for his promotion. He had his own bitterness towards her, but in his opinion, his reasons far outweighed whatever she thought of him. At least she couldn’t call him a weak link. If she had, Finn wasn’t sure that he would have kept his cool back there. 

He took a deep breath as he tried to keep the flashes of memory of Jakku at bay.

Yes, he said to himself. He really needed to talk to Rey about what it meant to be the favorite.

* * *

Pain shot through her lower abdomen before it dimmed into a consistent and unbearable throbbing. It woke her from her sleep, just as she finally reached a deep, restful slumber.

She shifted uncomfortably in her spot on the bed for a couple of minutes, turning from her side to her back to her stomach before she finally gave up. Sitting up, she tried to avoid rustling the mattress and the bedding too much so she wouldn’t wake Finn. In only a couple more moments, she retrieved a glass of water and a little burnt orange pill from the end table on her side of the room.

The pill felt jagged as it slid down her throat. Frowning she leaned back against the pillows and swallowed more water to try to help the feeling go away quicker. It would be at least another half-hour before the medication started to take effect on the pain. Her datapad lay on the table next to her, perhaps she could find something there to occupy herself in the meantime.

Finn shuffled slightly beside her, mumbling something unintelligible until he went quiet again. She smiled and ran her fingers gently through his hair.

Another wave of pain rippled through her. With a sigh, she lay her head back and stared at the ceiling, hoping that the feeling would pass and soon.

It felt like she couldn’t win. This is what _not_ starving had done to her body. She left a lifetime of hunger pangs on Jakku in exchange for a life with the First Order full of pain because her body was doing what it was supposed to do… or at least trying to do what it was supposed to do. Rey was certain that the other women in the Order didn’t experience this kind of pain, or if they did, they hid it well. This couldn’t be normal…

But what exactly _was_ normal? 

A million thoughts ran through her mind about the things she would have to look at and think about in the next coming days. She had a regime to run, a war to win. Her pain was nowhere as important as the rest of her duties.

Instead, she practiced a memory exercise that she had been doing since she was a kid. She would talk herself through what she dreamed, if she dreamed at all that night. Usually she did, though often she preferred the comfort of blackness and dreamlessness. 

Tonight, she had dreamed, even if it was cut short.

It was a familiar dream that she had experienced for years. She saw an island surrounded by stormy, gray waters and equally gray skies. It was green with moss and a quiet, lonely place, but there was something mythical about it, like it held a secret that was just waiting for Rey to come and find it.

She had never been to the island and wasn’t sure if it even existed. When she had the time, Rey would glance the First Order’s records of worlds that had water oceans to find a match, but there were many to search through and it might not be real. Either way, it was better than the dreams where the pain morphed them into nightmares. Sometimes, she even had nightmares where the pain felt real and she woke up with her heart racing only to find that it hadn’t been real. Rey had her share of fears, but this fear might have been her greatest for she could never be able to just walk away from her own body.

“Hurts?” a low mumble came from next to her.

Finn had woken up and was staring at her half-asleep. He reached out with his arm and touched her hip, rubbing the skin there soothingly. It was a whisper of a touch, not too rough and not light enough to tickle (it was another problem she had, but at least Finn shared that issue with her). Finn was the only one she allowed to touch her so freely, knowing that he had never intended her harm like some of the others in the First Order. She found that she enjoyed sharing her quiet moments with Finn, which shocked her. Before, she had never shared anything with anyone, not if she wanted to survive. 

Was this normal?

With another heaving sight, Rey smiled softly, though it was forced on her part. 

“I’m fine,” she told him.

“Call Medical,” Finn slurred. “Please.”

Agreeing felt a little like she was giving up, but she was tired of this and knew there were ways that women stopped their monthly cycles from coming. Perhaps she could try that, since it seemed that her pain was worse around that time of the month. Wouldn’t hurt to give it a shot, at least.

“All right,” she relented.

Content with her answer, Finn’s eyes drooped, and he immediately went back to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

“I’ve looked over your selections, General,” the Supreme Leader said in the most commanding voice she could project, “and I approve of them.”

The look on Hux’s pale face wasn't just of shock, but more of pleasant surprise. He had obviously not expected the Supreme Leader to give him what he wanted, if the smirk that appeared on his pale face was any indication. He probably thought she had lost her resolve, and that was exactly what he wanted of her.

“That’s… wonderful, Supreme Leader,” he answered. “I’m certain that all of my choices will make excellent additions to our advisers.”

 _Advisers_ to help make some more bad choices, Rey though. Hux’s insistence to crush the Resistance was costing them, but he hadn’t made a bad enough decision to warrant him getting oust him from his position, as much as she wanted to. Most days she had to hold back her urge to use the dark side to silence him. She supposed she could easily push him aside, but Rey wasn’t sure if that was a wise move. For all that she detested Hux, she was not dumb enough to not see how loyal many in the First Order were to him. No, if she wanted to keep things together, she would have to learn how to grudgingly tolerate the younger Hux.

He wasn’t going to like this next part.

“However, I have to deny your request to build another mobile superweapon.”

His smirk quickly turned into a frown and he started to protest right away. Unlike with Supreme Leader Snoke, Hux had no sense of decorum with Rey. At first, she thought it was because he had no respect for her and thought of her as weak, then she realized he had no respect for her because she didn’t buy into most of his ideas. She wasn’t blind; Hux had obviously been abusing his position by tapping into any project or field he was interested in, even if he had no business there. This went unnoticed with Snoke, but it would not with Rey. She even had a feeling that Kylo might have also caught on to Hux’s scheming. She was an obstacle to him and any obstacle to Hux was something he wanted to remove.

Finn was keeping an open ear around the troops for her. So far, he had no evidence to suggest that Hux was committing treason by encouraging a mutiny within the ranks to overthrow the Supreme Leader, which came as a relief to Rey. She kept reminding herself to keep her own biases and emotions aside and _listen to Finn _when he actually had something to say about a matter. He knew the First Order in a way Rey did not and he was often right about his observations. That was why she was so keen to keep Hux balanced on the line between becoming her ally and her enemy; she couldn’t give him everything he wanted, but she also had to make sure he got the more agreeable demands he made.__

She wasn’t sure how long this would last. Eventually, Hux would find himself at a gridlock with the Supreme Leader as his patience wore thin. There wasn’t just going to be a war with the Republic and the Resistance, there would be a war within the First Order’s own ranks. Disorganized and small, the Resistance was just an annoyance and the Order's victory over them was not the bigger picture. They had a galaxy to rule.

“Supreme Leader, I don’t understand why you are so against us creating another weapon that almost ensured victory over our enemies.” 

She wanted to tell Hux not to stand at the foot of the throne with his mouth hanging open. Not that Rey was concerned with manners, rather, she already hated looking at his face and this was making him look even more like a pale, skinny Croulate. She had been wrong to think she would never meet anyone as slimy and shrewd as Unkar Plutt once she left Jakku for good. 

“My main concern, General, is that it’s unnecessary to make another expensive weapon when we already have a mobile weapon that’s in perfectly good condition. I’ve looked over what it cost to make Starkiller and I’m not sure if it's wise to use such a significant sum on a weapon. Those credits could be put to better use – rebuilding and developing the worlds we’ve conquered, perhaps?”

It was possible that Hux’s mouth dropped lower as he coughed in disbelief. “I- you can’t be serious.”

“You forget who you are speaking to,” the Supreme Leader snapped. “Jakku had been left forgotten by the New Republic after they claimed victory over the Empire in its sands. I’ve often wondered what it would have been like had someone thought to remember how the desert aided the Rebellion.”

“The First Order took in war orphans and gave them a purpose,” Hux protested. “The Hutt’s grasp on the world was crushed too, if I might remind you.”

“We took children to be soldiers for us, but nothing else on Jakku was of interest. The First Order left the world in disarray, in anarchy. Tell me, is that order to you?”

There was no response from Hux. Likely, he had no argument to offer, as unusual as it was for him. Rey counted this as a small victory for herself.

She took the opportunity to continue. “How do you expect the First Order to survive a few years, let alone a decade or more if there is no one to work the basic industries and nothing for them to work with? We need food, General, babies to keep our rank numbers sustainable, materials to build our fleet. Weapons won’t feed an army.”

“We focus on what we need from each world, then decide how to govern it based on that need.”

“Is local agriculture part of that effort?” asked the Supreme Leader.

“Only on worlds where it’s a significant industry. That is how we feed our troops.”

She ground her jaw. “Perfect, so we’ll crush the Resistance only to have another rebellion on our hands in a few years.”

“I don’t understand,” said Hux, and the face he made mirrored this statement. He did not understand the logic behind her statement.

Deciding that it was time to end this meeting, the Supreme Leader stood up from the throne, trying her best to stay as stoic as possible. The Praetorian guards in the red armor she didn’t care much for surrounded her, ready to walk her back to her apartment. 

“The angriest of people are often the hungriest,” she said at last to the general.

And really, what more could be said? She was speaking from experience after all.

* * *

“Has it really been a year, Finn?” Rey asked from across the table.

He looked up from his datapad as he mulled over the latest information regarding the Resistance and the insurgence of new membership that it experienced since it was nearly quashed at Crait. They were becoming a nuisance, like insects that just wouldn’t die. Rey had warned him this might happen, for nothing fueled the fire to fight back than the threat of losing what was familiar and valued. _Autonomy,_ he reminded himself, trying to use a wider political vocabulary he had picked up since he began his relationship with Rey. It wouldn’t do for the Supreme Leader to have a partner that was inept in politics.

“A year since…?” He racked his brain, but Finn couldn't make a connection to what Rey might have be talking about.

“Since we started _this,”_ she pointed back and forth between herself and him. “Whatever this is.”

It took him a moment to think back to what part of the standard year he had started his not-so-secret relationship with Rey. A year sounded right to him, even if it didn’t seem so long ago that she first invited him to dinner the same day he gathered up boldness to approach her on the throne to entice her. And really, this went on longer than he'd expected, not that he was complaining. Rey never acted like she might replace him with someone else and he also never felt like he was being forced to stay with her. 

“I think that’s right,” he answered. 

She beamed at him. “We should celebrate,” she exclaimed, rubbing her hands together like an excited little girl. Grabbing her datapad, Rey immediately began to tap on the screen over and over.

“Woah, Rey,” he held up his hands like he was trying to calm an anxious animal. “Is this something to be excited about?”

Pausing, Rey took a deep breath. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I used to find old holos in wreckage back on Jakku. There was one where a couple celebrated their first year together by going on a picnic… then had lots of sex.” Her face went bright red at the admission. “I thought it was romantic.”

Finn might have laughed at how un-Rey-like this expression was, if she didn’t look so starry-eyed about the whole thing. This anniversary idea seemed important to her and he’d hate to ruin that. Besides, Finn never celebrated anything besides what was designated by the First Order as something that needed to be celebrated, and then all he could have expected was slightly better meals.

“What do you have in mind?”

There was that beautiful smile again. It was so rare to see it these days.

She began to list all the food she wanted them to eat. They couldn’t exactly picnic out in space, but they could at least enjoy all of their favorites.

“And cake. We should eat cake.”

He heartily laughed this time. “Of course.”

It was over an hour before the food was brought in and though it was more than enough for them, Finn thought it was too much just for two.

“Next year,” he began, “we should share our joy with the rest of the troops.”

It was something he said without thinking, but he knew the implication was enormous and he nervously looked over at Rey to see her reaction.

She stopped eating the baked water fowl covered with a sweet red sauce that tinted her lips… Was that a tear in her eye?”

Finn panicked. “Oh, no, Rey. I’m sorry, I-"

But she shook her head and hushed him. “I’m happy,” she told him, “you feel this way too.”

Quietly, and with a smile, Finn reached over to the small cake raised on a pedestal platter and pushed a piece on to a plate. He grabbed two forks and offered one to her, wanting to share that slice with her.

“I got you s-something,” Rey suddenly announced. He noticed her stutter the last word, another thing that wasn’t like Rey to do. Reaching down, she grabbed a small box from under her chair and pushed it towards him.

“I-" Finn wasn’t sure what to say. No one had ever given him a gift before.

“Open it first,” Rey laughed.

He put pressure against the outer shell of the box with his thumb, forcing it to open with a small _pop._ Inside, lying on a cushion of black velvet, was a single platinum hoop inlaid with shining red stones.

“An earring?” 

“The partner of the Supreme Leader should look the part,” she said. “I thought it would be simple and you could remove it when you went off to battle. Some humans wear rings, but I didn't think it would work well if you're always wearing gloves.” She looked at Finn with wide eyes. “Only if you want to.”

His heart seemed to swell in his chest with… would this be affection? He certainly felt this way when he woke up each morning next to Rey. Even when they had an argument and he went back to his own assigned private quarters angry, that feeling still stayed there, hiding underneath the negative thoughts whenever he thought of her. It also gave way to fear at the thought that things might be over between them. The fact that she always forgave him (and him, her) after such a fight meant that she wasn’t going to toss him aside the moment there was trouble in paradise.

But before he jumped in, he needed to know a few things.

“What does it mean to be the Supreme Leader’s partner?”

Uncertainty flashed on Rey’s face. “I’m not sure,” she confessed. “You’d be the first.”

He changed his wording. “Then what do you think it would mean to you?”

Rey paused for a moment to think again. “We’ll have to really think it through, but I suppose everyone else would assume that you and I speak with the same voice, meaning your rank would automatically be higher than the other commanding officers. At least this might counter some of the problems you’ve had in the ranks lately.”

This gave Finn a halt to his own train of thought. As much as the idea of a partnership with Rey appealed to him, a partnership with the Supreme Leader was obviously something very different. He couldn’t be with one and not the other, and this had already proven to be an obstacle to his leadership in the ranks. Other officers that didn’t know him before his promotion believed he only got the job because of his relationship with the Supreme Leader and they hated him for it.

Official recognition of being the Supreme Leader’s partner might not change a lot, but at least they would have to acknowledge that he now ranked over all of them.

At the same time, he didn’t know the first thing about running a political regime. He could repeat and enforce what Rey told him, but if he had to make those decisions? That wasn’t something he was comfortable with.

“Can I think about this, first?” he asked, staring at the earring and contemplating the weight it would put on his shoulders. “I won’t take long, I promise.”

The warmth of Rey’s hand over his made all the cold from the room seem to vanish around him. 

“Is there anything else you wanted to do tonight?” he asked, trying to change the overall feeling at the table.

“Well…” She trailed off, grinning. Finn sighed, knowing that she had been planning this. “I got us a holo to watch. It’s an old romance.”

“What’s it called?”

_“From Tatooine, with Love.”_

When they settled into bed a half-hour later and booted up the holo, they quickly discovered that it was a _completely_ different kind of romance that they were expecting, starring a very flamboyant and chiseled Luke Skywalker lookalike.

* * *

_“Supreme Leader, it’s started. The planet is falling apart.”_

The silver-blue hologram face of Armitage Hux flickered before it vanished. The audio stayed on for a moment longer, allowing everyone in the throne room to hear the hushed, alarmed whispers from Starkiller.

The silence that followed was full of tension.

Finn waited for Rey to speak first as she was processing the shock of what just happened. What was thought of as impossible just became reality and now, the First Order was without their greatest weapon.

“I don’t suppose I should give my hopes up that this is the last we’ll see of General Hux?” she finally said out loud.

He chuckled and shook his head. It almost seemed like an inappropriate thing to say in this situation, if it wasn’t for the fact that Finn didn’t like Armitage Hux either. “Doubtful,” he responded to her. “I’d bet you my uniform that he was on the first transport off the base.”

Rey snorted. “Loser walks around naked for a day?”

“Seriously, Rey? Is now really the time?"

She shrugged. “Just trying to keep my mind off the fact that we probably just took some extreme losses in our numbers.” Then, she slumped in the throne, looking around the remolded walls of the room that were stripped of the red coloring and back to its original layout that matched the rest of the _Supremacy._ There had been a lot of arguing back and forth over the matter and eventually, Rey relented with her lack of ideas and just stuck with the aesthetic of the First Order. At least the steel panels didn’t hurt to look at.

Thinking about how many stormtroopers would be reported as missing or dead, Finn frowned and began to look as sour as the Supreme Leader. He hoped that whatever fates they met, it was quick.

“Do we know if it was the Resistance for sure?” Rey asked him.

“I think it’s safe to say that it’s probably them or whatever survivors the New Republic’s military has out there.”

But something still bothered him about this whole thing. In order for such an attack to happen, Starkiller’s shields had to have been brought down to allow the enemy in, and in order for the shields to go down, someone had to have the right codes.

There might be a traitor in their midst. 

“I’m going to have to look at the records of everything that was entered into the base’s systems from the last few days,” he told Rey. "Something's off. They shouldn't have been able to get past our shields."

Rey stood up from her seat and walked down the steps of the throne to meet him, lacing their hands together. “You’ll tell me what you find?”

“O-of course,” he stammered. The idea that he would keep information from Rey – the _Supreme Leader_ – was unthinkable. “Anything I find worth telling you, I will immediately.”

She led him out of the room, to another chamber where a U-shaped table sat in the center. Rey had already called for superior officers of each department to meet her here the moment Starkiller sent out a distress signal.

“Before this meeting happens, I need to tell you that I’ve made a decision.”

“And?”

“I think it’s time the First Order makes an honest effort at governing acquired worlds,” she explained. “We can’t just occupy with troops and keep everyone in line with threats. Everything will fall apart if we do. No, it’s time that we govern by law.”

It had been something that they had argued about for months. Troops were deployed to worlds that the First Order had interest in once they didn’t surrender up front, then they would stay there to keep an eye on things and to start the process of governing. What could not be decided was if the First Order should leave each world’s governance alone as long as they complied to the command of the Supreme Leader or if the First Order needed to control that as well. At first, Rey had been against the idea, believing that replacing local governance with something foreign would only upset the civilians more, but now, it seemed she was having second thoughts.

“And have you decided who will do that?” He was curious to find if she had selected anyone herself and who they were.

“More that I would like on-world supporters to be given power instead, as a compromise. Not too foreign, not too hard to work with, and they’ll know more about their homes than we would.”

It seemed like a logical choice, though this wasn’t Finn’s area of expertise. A war zone he could map and look for potential pitfalls and traps, but how a world ran their affairs? He’d rather Rey handle that herself, she seemed to at least have an idea of what she was doing. She had come a long way since they first met.

“It seems like a decent idea,” he began, though he wasn’t too sure of himself. “Have you asked anyone else?"

“Not really,” she confessed. “I’ve tried bringing it up before with a few officers, but then they start talking about what _they_ think I should do instead of hearing me out. They need to learn their place. I want to bring it up here and I might get a better response if I can convince them that this might help us really track down Resistance factions. Likely, the locals will know more than we do.”

Oh, that was a good point.

“You might be on to something there.” Finn squeezed her hand in encouragement.

With a small, but unhappy smile, Rey leaned up and kissed him chastely on the lips. “I wish you could stay,” she said.

“I would if I could. But I have something to investigate right now. You’ll be fine,” he tried to coax her.

She pouted, but he ignored that, opting to kiss her on the mouth one more time before he left her.

* * *

Finn spent hours searching through the logs of Starkiller’s systems, making note of any strange codes, errors, or notes that he could find in the three days leading up to Starkiller’s destruction. He thought that would be a decent time frame to start with, worried that going too far back too quickly would complicate his search. It was important for him to search through everything thoroughly. The least he could do for all those stormtroopers was piece together how the incident unfolded and bring the one that caused their deaths to justice. The First Order would never make an official death toll available to everyone to see, afraid large losses would negatively affect morale, but the troops weren't stupid and would figure out eventually. Rey seemed to understand this too. Already, an official period of mourning had been proclaimed. They would remember the fallen as they vowed to avenge them.

As his focus was failing him, Finn found something that might be of use to him.

An hour before Starkiller was destroyed, Lieutenant Sol Rivas had accessed the console and disabled the shields. Finn never met the man before, but this was the obvious evidence he needed to find who betrayed the First Order.

He made a call to communications to see if anyone could locate Rivas.

 _“We have not heard from him since Starkiller,”_ the technician said. _“He was last seen escaping in a TIE fighter.”_

Of course he did, Finn thought grimly, and that meant by now he was probably long gone, out of First Order reach and back in the arms of… whoever he was aligned with.

Finn took the chance to view any footage that external cameras picked up around the base to figure out who the pilots belonged to. Luckily for him, he could slow the footage down of the overhead shots of incoming pilots from around the time the shields went down.

Well, they certainly weren’t New Republic starfighters. Not those X-wings. The newest model of the group was painted black with orange accents, which was not something he had ever seen from images of the New Republic fleet. The rest of the group looked like older, second-hand ships that had seen better days.

Definitely the Resistance. He needed to tell Rey as soon as possible.

But as he backed up the footage more and accidentally missed his cut-off, something else caught his eye. It was quick, but he was certain that he had seen something whizz past the camera, almost like…

Could someone _land_ a ship at lightspeed? It sounded impossible to him, but then again, everyone insisted that destroying Starkiller would be impossible.

He went back to looking through the reports, hoping to find something, _anything_ that might confirm what he had just seen.

There was nothing noted in the reports of any unidentified transport; the sensors had not picked up anything, but Finn also doubted the sensors could pick something up moving at that speed and he knew that sensors were not placed anywhere past a certain mileage radius of the base, meaning there was a lot of territory not surveyed regularly. But he would think anything moving that fast could not make a smooth landing and crash, and any smoke or explosions would have caught the First Order's attention.

So that led Finn to two possibilities: either Revas was a traitor or he was just the unlucky guy that whoever lowered the shields framed…

Perhaps Rey could help him figure out if that smudge in the footage was anything to think about. She knew ships far better than probably anyone he knew and she would probably have some idea if landing at lightspeed was possible.

He searched through the roster to figure out who was on duty at the time, finding Phasma’s name at the top of command. As much as he hated interacting with her, he knew he needed to talk with her and get her recollection of what happened.

Grumbling to himself, he linked back to Communications. “Can someone find Captain Phasma?”

There was a murmur on the other end of the comm link until a single voice answered him clearly. _“Sir, Captain Phasma has not been seen since the base started to implode. It is believed she might be among the deceased.”_

Now _that_ was pretty shocking. Like General Hux, Finn had been certain that Phasma would be among the first evacuated off the base. Perhaps she had been too far away to get to a hangar in time, or maybe she had done one last act of bravery. Finn supposed some time needed to pass before he could count her as dead, though, he thought with a small sliver of guilt, this might make his job a little easier. If anyone seemed displeased with Finn’s latest advancement, it had been Phasma, though he was not exactly sure why. She had trained him herself and had even suggested that he might eventually become officer material. Was him being the Supreme Leader’s favorite the only reason why she was bitter towards him?

Glancing at the chronometer, Finn realized he had just spent six hours in front of the console and his stomach rumbled to remind him the time. He had missed dinner in the mess hall and likely Rey had decided not to wait up for him. She might have left something out for him to find in case he came back late.

He stood up from the rolling chair and stretched his arms and legs before he went to turn the lights off in the security room. Rey might still be up, waiting for him so she could tell him how her meeting went, but she easily could have been exhausted and already be in bed. Finn decided to check on her and if she was already asleep, he would just ask a droid in the kitchens to help him out (there were perks to being the Supreme Leader’s favorite) and go back to his quarters for the night.

His mind wandered while he made the long walk back to the top deck of the _Supremacy,_ until a low whine echoed across the deserted corridor. Finn paused and looked around until he made a connection between the noise and what could have made it.

A baby was crying.

He almost forgot the mega-class Star Destroyer housed its own nursery. Babies had never been part of his duties, nor had he ever had clearance to enter these spaces. The First Order wanted to keep out as many contaminants as possible, to avoid sickening their most vulnerable life.

But as Major, Finn could enter the nursery if he wanted to.

Following the crying when it started again, Finn scanned his ID against the door and waited as it slowly slid open. Only a few humans entered this room, the nursery managed by mainly droids programmed to nurse children.

The crying grew louder as he entered the dark corridor. Rocking a bundle wrapped in gray swaddling, a droid hummed and shushed the human baby in its arms. Heating pads had been fitted to it chest appendage, trying to replicate the warmth of a humanoid body.

"Major," it greeted. Its voice was soft, with feminine programming. Finn was almost shocked to see a droid with personality programming until he remembered its job. Droids in the nursery were allowed to have personality so it could better nurture the future of the First Order.

He nodded at the baby. "Is it okay?"

The droid continued rocking the bundle. "He has colic," it explained. "I am trying to comfort him." Then the droid stared it him. "Is there something I can help you with, Major?"

"Just checking on things here," he explained. "I heard crying."

"He will be all right," the droid assured him.

Not sure why to stay any longer, Finn still drifted over to a glass window in the corridor, overlooking the dark room where a group of babies slept. There were about a dozen of them in transparent cradles, all blanketed with the gray cloth like the baby in the droid's arms. Most of them slept soundly, oblivious of their future in the First Order. Others wiggled on their backs, sometimes turning over and prompting a droid to correct their position.

"Have they been assigned their call signs yet?" he asked. They all seemed too young to be assigned numbers. He couldn't imagine them older, holding blasters or repairing ships. Some of them could only be a few months old at the most.

Taking a closer look at the baby in the droid's arms, Finn found he could only see the head peeking out and a tuft of red hair. It reminded him of his old squadmate, Nines, and he wondered what happened to him after they graduated from the academy.

A tiny Nines, he mused. A helpless life form. Finn never really thought about the care that went into babies, but seeing the droids at work and what it took to help a sick baby like the one in front of him... Well, it almost seemed cruel that they were here, in this dark room on the _Supremacy._ Maybe it was because it was night, but the room seemed so sterile and cold that he wondered if such an environment would harm growing minds and bodies.

He had meant to survey the stormtrooper program himself at some point, wanting to know the ins and outs of raising the perfect soldier. Maybe, he wondered, he could make improvements if he took more time to figure out what these kids needed. The First Order did a fine job in raising children, he was certain, but there was always room to improve.

With one last glance at the baby, Finn saw himself out of the nursery.

* * *

Rey stood at the edge of a slick, rain-drenched cliff, overlooking a gray ocean and incoming clouds that threatened another storm coming her way.

Even if she felt cold, there was a sense of peace here. It would be nice to feel this peace more often, she thought, thinking of how her duties as the Supreme Leader left her feeling anxious and unfinished at the end of nearly every day. She was managing the pain that localized in her pelvis, just below her navel, thanks to the treatment the med droids were trying on her. Needles were something she'd rather avoid, but if they could help stop the pain, she'd gladly get her arm prodded each month. The problem was that despite the improvement, stress always seemed to make everything worse.

With a deep breath, she opened her eyes, finding herself warm in her bed but frowned when she looked over and found the other side empty. Finn did not come back that evening. It made her feel a little lonely, but sometimes Finn worked late and decided he’d rather go back to his quarters than make the trek up to the top deck. Likely, the loss of Starkiller would keep him up all night; she had to rely on pills to help her relax enough to sleep. It wouldn’t bother her if he slid into bed when she was already asleep, she might not even notice if he did.

She plopped back against the pillows, staring up at the ceiling and thought about the dream of the island. Once, she had been told by her master that sometimes the Force gave visions but she wasn’t sure if dreams were the same as visions. This could just be a remnant of her childhood imagination longing for a place vastly different from Jakku.

There was still that curiosity in her to find out if the island really existed, though she had exhausted herself searching through hundreds of records of worlds in the galaxy, knowing she wasn’t even close to getting through them all. She could request the records searched to narrow down possible matches, but Rey felt that would be an abuse of her power somehow. Well, actually, she didn’t want anyone thinking she was up to something and put their noses where it didn’t belong.

Somehow, she ended up staring at a request form for an information search.

It would be good for her to get her mind off everything else, right? This would just be a nice distraction.

Mind made up, Rey put in the request to narrow a search down for worlds with _water, oceans, rain storms, islands, moss,_ and _coastal plants._ With any luck, she might find something interesting soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **For readers keeping track of the timeline on this story:**
> 
> By now, you might have noticed that this AU does not follow the canon timeline in terms of events (ex. Crait happening before Starkiller's destruction). I've taken liberties in selecting events I want to keep in and changing them to how I see fit to tell this story. I will also say that the overall story takes place over a series of years rather than a few months or weeks. Unless I say otherwise, such as with the last two chapters of this story, you can easily make the assumption that one chapter = one year. By the end of the story, Rey would have been in power for over six years.
> 
> **Other notes:**
> 
> The next chapter is very long (almost three times the length of a normal chapter from me) and will have trigger warnings at the start.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning:  
> This chapter covers topics such as stillbirth and birth-related trauma.

The silence of the room was deafening.

Finn stood in the doorway of the private medbay, panting after rushing from the other side of the _Supremacy._ He hastily left his post to lead night patrol with a squad of fresh ‘troopers after the screen in his helmet paged him for an emergency. 

Rey lay frozen on the examination table, her head turned to stare blankly at a screen on a console.

He glanced at the droid running a wand over her swollen belly, then back up at the screen waiting, hoping to hear _something._

After counting to a slow sixty, Finn realized there was no heartbeat. Tightness tugged in his chest.

They had been so close this time.

He and Rey listened numbly to the droid as it listed their options. Finn usually appreciated the no-nonsense programming of the droids in the medbay, but today, he wished they could speak with a human that might actually care about what just happened. He didn’t look at Rey as he slid his arm out to her side, finding her hand and covering it on the cold table.

“It is recommended, Supreme Leader, that humans try to naturally expel the fetus before resorting to surgical methods. Of course, this will be left up to you.”

“What are my options?” Rey asked in a small, weak voice.

The droid continued. “Usually, the body will go into labor naturally within a week, but most human women prefer that it is induced as soon as possible. It could be done here, but there are facilities nearby on Lysatra that would have better trained personnel for this.”

Finn resisted the urge to answer the droid, knowing Rey might not be up to making a choice herself right now. Despite that, it had to be on her own terms. He might be hurting, but she was the only one suffering physically.

She looked back over at the console where a fuzzy outline of their child could still be seen against a black backdrop. For a moment, she said nothing and did nothing except stare.

“Let’s get this over as soon as possible,” she finally answered the droid. “Have a transport prepared for me within the hour at my private hangar.” There was a pause before she added, “No one can see me like this.”

Finn kissed her hand, though she still did not look at him. “I’ll go pack for us,” he told her. “Unless you don’t want me to leave-?”

She shook her head. “Go ahead.”

A part of him hoped she would tell him that she wanted him to stay. He needed to stay with her. There was no way he would be able to hold himself together all the way up to their apartment. Rey, who never worried about appearances before her pregnancy, suddenly became all about appearances. She needed Finn to grab their things because in her mind, if anyone else knew about this, the rumors would spread like wildfire. She didn’t even trust the droids anymore.

But even if it hurt him, he made the route to the top deck and somehow kept himself from sobbing on the way.

That didn’t stop him from losing all composure the moment he closed the door of their quarters behind him, or rather, _kicked_ the door shut.

He went into their room and retrieved a standard duffel bag from under the bed, then he rummaged through Rey’s things and found the easiest clothes for her to change in and out of, things that tied or buttoned up. His own clothes were easy to gather, as he only had a couple of sets he wore regularly that were comfortable.

As much as he wanted to pretend he didn’t see it, the spotting of blood on the bedding on Rey’s side was something he would never forget.

A piece of Snoke’s old collection of artifacts caught his eye as he was leaving. Rey had moved some of the more interesting pieces into her apartment. It was an old box, heavy and gray, but decorated with carvings that made Finn think about an ancient world he never knew. He had always meant to ask Rey if she knew what the carvings were about, but he kept forgetting to bring it up.

He opened the box, peering inside to see the hilt of a broken, weathered lightsaber sitting on a cushion to prevent it from moving around too much. Frowning, he removed the cushion and the hilt and set them down on the shelf, taking the box with him and stuffing it into the bag.

When he returned to Rey’s side, she was already sitting in a wheelchair, waiting and wringing her hands together for the transport to be readied.

“I was told it would be a few minutes. The droids are just making sure the back way is clear.” Her voice was hoarse; Finn guessed she had been crying while he was gone.

He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, placing his face up to her hair. There wasn’t anything he could say to her to fix this and so, he didn’t think he should try. 

Rey's hands were cool against his skin where she put them up to his arms. She understood what he was feeling.

* * *

Finn waited outside of the maternity ward suite when the doctors needed Rey to focus. No one knew who she was, the droids had done excellent work covering their tracks. No one in the First Order besides Finn and a single doctor knew of Rey’s pregnancy – she hadn’t made a public appearance since she started showing, opting to speak to everyone via a hologram while claiming she was out looking for the last Jedi, Luke Skywalker – and no one would be wiser to the fact that a baby had once existed. She decided against making an announcement after her last miscarriage, in case their worst fears came to pass. Unfortunately, she was right.

As uncomfortable as labor was to begin with, this was far worse. The baby, the doctors observed, was abnormally large and Rey was pushing out dead weight. Literally. Finn felt his heart twinge whenever he was reminded of this.

He stayed with her for the first ten hours of labor before it became clear that something was going wrong. Her blood pressure tanked and after the first time she passed out, Finn found himself being ushered quickly out of the room as another doctor and two more nurses arrived to help. 

It was another five and a half hours along with a surgical cut to aid the delivery before the help quietly exited the room and Finn was allowed back in.

There was too much blood on the bed for his comfort, but the sound of Rey’s heart monitor beeping steadily and rhythmically soothed his anxiety. She lay on the bed with her eyes closed, resting. The room smelled of ammonia and sweat, evident by Rey’s damp hair sticking to the skin of her face. There was an IV in her left arm and she was far paler than he had ever seen her before.

But once he caught sight of a droid cleaning up something in the corner of the room, Finn found that he could not take his eyes away. A day ago, he had imagined that he would be in a totally different situation when this moment arrived; instead of the happiness this moment should have brought, there was only pain. He wondered what the droid would do in this situation.

Rey tried to sit up when the droid turned around, carrying a still bundle wrapped in a white blanket in its arms. She struggled, and Finn had to push her up to situate her.

“It is protocol to ask the parents if they would still like to hold their child,” the droid said.

Finn waited for Rey’s answer. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to look. Already, this was too much.

“Yes.” Rey reached her arms out, carefully trying to take the weight herself as the droid passed the bundle to her.

“I’ll leave you alone,” it said. “If you need anything, please press the button for service.”

Then, they were left in silence again, alone with something that wasn’t meant to be.

Rey moved the fabric away from the head while Finn looked away, still debating what he should do. A boy. Seven months. Too large. Cause of death likely a developmental defect. 

“What does he look like?” he finally asked Rey.

"He looks like you,” she whispered. She was crying again.

Finn finally gathered the courage to open his eyes and look, trying to keep himself from gasping too loudly. Even with the skin peeling away from one side of the baby’s face, he could see the resemblance. His jawline and wisps of spiral hair reminded Finn of his own.

When he couldn’t look anymore, Finn gathered Rey in his arms and rocked them gently. Before they had gotten a chance to know their son, already they found themselves trying to figure out how to say goodbye.

* * *

They only got a half an hour before the droid returned. Finn held their son after Rey’s arms started to shake from exhaustion. He wanted her to sleep, but she stubbornly refused to until after someone came back to speak with them.

Following behind the droid, the doctor returned to do a quick examination of Rey’s stitches and check her vitals. He mentioned she would likely have to take a few weeks of rest to make a full recovery, but the stitches would probably dissolve within the week. Then, he mentioned an autopsy.

Rey seemed to already know that this, the first two attempts, and the pain in her abdomen that just wouldn’t go away were all connected somehow, and when she explained this, the doctor nodded. “There are surgeries you can try,” he told her. “You should have someone look in you before you try again, they might find what’s wrong. Get your insulin levels checked too,” he advised, before he moved to leave the room. He stopped short of the doorway, sighing. “I’m sorry,” he said, then left them with the droid.

Finn put his focus back on the droid and the moment he saw what it was doing with the body of his son, he stood up angrily.

“Are you- what is this?” he demanded.

“Protocol is to move the body in a sanitary manner to the morgue until cremation.”

“That’s a plastic bag,” Finn yelled, angered at the thought that his son was being tossed away like trash. “How dare you! That is my son and I’m not just going to let-“

_“Finn!”_

He broke out of his anger for a moment, looking over to find Rey staring at him horrified only for him to realize what he had done. He just screamed at a droid who was just following its programming. That was something that he’d never done before, disgusted at times by the way the troops would kick the mice droids and the BB units that accidentally got in the way. 

“Finn.” Rey was crying again. “Let it do its job. It’s okay.”

He went back to her side and sat down on the bed, placing his hand over his eyes in shame. “I’m sorry,” he said before he burst into tears himself.

Rey let him sit next to her while she rested, her hand lying limp against his thigh as they counted the minutes until they could return to their transport.

* * *

The following weeks felt like a sick joke to Rey. Although there was no baby to hold in her arms, her body didn’t understand this. Her breasts were sore and swelled with milk for a baby that wouldn’t drink it and she was left bed-ridden until the stitches dissolved and she recovered from the physical trauma that the whole ordeal had left her with.

Finn could not stay with her all day and the droids that cleaned the apartment, brought her food, and helped her to the ‘fresher were hardly good for conversation, leaving her lonely and miserable. She slept most of the day thanks to the painkillers she was given, and when she was between doses and awake she would try to read through reports until she lost her focus and gave up. Now, she was even missing her duties of the Supreme Leader when she once would have welcomed the break from them.

She knew Finn was trying his best with the situation, but between the loss of their son and taking on extra duties to relay information to Rey by claiming he was taking responsibility in her absence as _Consort-Major,_ he returned each night exhausted and drained. He barely said more than he needed to about the occurrences of the day at the dinner table before he fell face-down on the bed and went to sleep. Rey wanted everything to go back to normal, regretting thinking she could carry a child to term. She'd seen tragedy befall the women on Jakku, saw the tears in their eyes as they buried their children in unmarked graves in the sand. If a child survived long enough to be born, they rarely lived long after. Usually, women either didn’t try or they just couldn’t.

Maybe that was what was wrong with her, she wondered as she held an ice pack to her chest. Maybe all the food and medications the First Order could give her couldn’t remove whatever of Jakku remained inside her.

She recalled what the doctor had told her about surgery to look inside her to see what might be wrong and she turned to her datapad, looking up what procedure he might have been talking about so she could call the med droid in to help her find a place to schedule one. What sounded right to her was a small incision made in her abdomen so that a tiny camera droid or a wand could be placed inside to look around, letting the surgeon clean up any abnormalities found in the process. 

The problem with scans, it turned out, was that there were too many layers of tissues, organs, and muscles in that part of her body that prevented anything external to see inside without going in somehow. The procedure itself was low-risk, but she easily could still be out for another month of bed rest after.

With a sigh, she placed her hand up to her head. She would have to think about this. Finn hadn’t broached the subject again – and she was grateful, because it was too soon for her – but his idea of just asking to take a baby from the cadet academy still stood as a more logical idea. However, as she thought about it, it felt wrong for her to just wander in and point to a child to take home like she would a droid at a shop. Maybe if they randomly were given a baby, it would feel better, but there was still the issue that she was given a baby selected over all the others, making them slightly more special in the eyes of the First Order. 

So, Rey decided to make an appointment for the surgery in a couple of months when it wouldn’t look so suspicious for her to take an additional few week away and then see if Finn wanted to try again. She wasn’t sure if her heart could take another event like what just happened, but she also vowed that if it didn’t work out, then they could explore the option of getting a baby elsewhere. Perhaps they could take a baby that had just been removed from its own world and not introduced to the nursery yet, then Rey could try to feign giving birth to the child herself. They were still trying to come up with a reason to have a child besides the fact they wanted a family. It was such a foreign concept to the First Order and Rey wondered if the officers and stormtroopers would want to have kids of their own after her example. It wasn't a bad idea since she and Finn continually brainstormed how to keep their numbers up. Eventually, they realized they would have to quit relying on removing children from their home worlds once they started to govern. Cardinal even suggested they try a lottery system to select babies to raise in the academy.

She looked at her messages to see if anything interesting had come up. Rarely did she answer them since she was supposed to be away and so, _so_ busy, but she did answer specific individuals when she heard from them, trying to be as vague as possible in her communications.

A message from the geography department caught her eye, and she opened it. A third attempt at her query to locate her dream island had been submitted to her. She was about to give up on it being real after the last attempt, but she added a few more words into her search to see if anything matched a world’s historical roots: Jedi, Sith, the Force.

A couple of familiar worlds had been listed again and she ignored those, focusing her attention on the new worlds added to the even slimmer list. She looked each of these up in the geographical databases, bringing up holograms of each world’s outline and map along with images if they were provided.

The third on her list was a planet called _Ach-To._ She had never heard of it and there wasn’t much for her to look at besides a 4D model of the world and a note that there had been rumors that the Force was strong here, but the world itself seemed deluged of sentient life forms. There was nothing there that the First Order would have interest in.

She stared at an island that was one of many that dotted the map, noting its familiar shape. She could almost point to an area on it and be able to recall the shape and features in her dreams.

Yes, this was the place.

A sudden longing to get up and go there filled her, but she reminded herself that her body was in no shape to travel, no matter how much she wanted to. Even the Supreme Leader was not invincible.

She would tell Finn when he got back, and she would put this ahead of the other thing that had been on her mind lately. Perhaps a trip to this island would give them some time to get away from everything.

* * *

“Ah, Consort-Major,” Phasma all but purred.

He would be lying if he said that he was pleased that Phasma returned from the dead after Starkiller. Well, not quite. She hadn’t been dead to begin with. 

As her story went, Phasma had known about Sol Revas’ betrayal the moment the shields were down on Starkiller and had pursued him along with a TIE pilot that helped her tracked the traitor to some backwater planet where Revas was trying to contact the Resistance. Phasma killed him herself, but the pilot died bravely in the scuffle.

There were a couple of gaps in her story, but everything added up to Finn's suspicion of Revas and no other mishaps of the kind had happened since. It was too bad Phasma couldn’t have found out where the Resistance was, but that was almost a year ago and they had their scrapes with smaller factions throughout the galaxy since.

But despite Finn’s gratefulness to Phasma’s service, she would never allow him to forget that along with the title of _Major,_ he was now linked to the role of consort. The moment he pierced his ear, Finn knew he was in a unique position. There had never been a consort before in the First Order, nor in the Empire that preluded it, and Finn carried the weight of two jobs. Even as a major, his role was always to hold the Supreme Leader’s life above his own, but as consort he was also expected to behold the Supreme Leader above himself, which he already did. There was no one else that Finn would readily give his life for.

Consort also implied something far more intimate than a general or an adviser, and the implications were not lost among the troops. If they weren’t making jokes about his earring signifying Rey’s ownership over him – which made him furious because Rey had never made him feel like he had to stay with her – they were making lewd comments of what other skills Finn must have to gain the continued interest of the Supreme Leader. In his anger, Finn sent them all to serve on sanitation duty, as he knew was in his right. It didn't do to have troops disrespect their leaders. If it kept up, he'd be forced to send them to reconditioning, which he'd rather not do.

It had already been hard being so young and at such a high office, but with the added title, there was more doubt that Finn had earned it. This left Finn in a position that made him feel like he had to go above and beyond to prove himself, even if, as often as Rey reminded him, he had nothing to prove.

“Captain,” he said, as sternly and commanding as possible. “Your report.”

He'd been waiting to hear from her for days now and as much as it hurt him to be away for so long while Rey was in so much pain, he took on double duties so she could rest. And besides, this helped him keep his mind off his own pain.

“The _Colossus_ has fallen to Resistance control, sir,” Phasma began. “We feared this before we originally approached Captain Doza, but now we have been run off by the platform’s civilians along with the Resistance. We will need to deploy more troops if we are to regain control.”

Finn had heard about the outpost in the Outer Rim that was known for their races more than anything else, but he wondered how important a racetrack could possibly be to anyone. Certainly not something worth loosing troops over. The earlier reports showed losses because of drowning and civilian violence than Finn would have considered acceptable.

“Is it vital that we keep the _Colossus_ from Resistance occupation?” he asked.

“It's the last refueling station the Resistance can get to before they reach our territory.”

Ah, so it was important then. Finn looked over the statistics and data he'd been given before, noting the amount of troops stationed there and the approximate number of Resistance soldiers and civilians that had pushed them off the outpost. But he didn’t see everything he needed to make a choice.

“Has anyone done reconnaissance since?” he asked her. “Are there any starfighter patrols or warships of theirs monitoring the area?”

“Not yet,” Phasma answered. “But we are certain the Resistance will not give up the _Colossus_ without a fight. If we could deploy troops within-"

“Not until I have the information I need to authorize an attack, Captain,” Finn interrupted her. "I want to avenge our fallen as much as you; make the Resistance pay for what they've done, but I can't give the orders until I know for sure what we're up against."

Even if he couldn’t see her face, her silence made it obvious that she was displeased, but Finn wanted to know exactly what they were getting into before they launched a response anywhere. Winning wars required strategy, not sheer force.

He waited to see if Phasma would fight him over this.

“Very well, Consort-Major,” she relented, to his shock. “I will have a TIE squad sent out within the hour.” She went to the door of the Operations room before she looked back. “But perhaps General Hux will have something to say about the matter.”

Finn swore under his breath. The problem with his position was that even though he directly served the Supreme Leader, he still held a lower position than Hux. If Hux decided that he didn’t like Finn’s orders – and indirectly, the _Supreme Leader’s_ orders – he would just override them with his own plans. They hadn’t quite figured a way around that.

Phasma would march right to Hux’s office right now, he bet.

With a heave of breath, Finn decided he would go check on Rey, certain that any moment he would hear about an authorized strike from Hux and Phasma.

He wasn’t sure what was more surprising: finding Rey sitting up in bed already or seeing her smiling. There hadn’t been a lot to smile about lately.

“What’s up?” he chuckled, looking at her hair that had become a tangled mess without a proper brushing. He thought he would offer to help her with it. 

“I found something that I’ve been looking for ages for,” she told him.

She then explained the island in her dreams and how she had put in requests to have someone try to filter down a list of possible places where it could be. Rey admitted she had her doubts that it even existed, but then she showed Finn a map and told that it matched the island in her dreams.

“That’s great!” He crawled into bed beside her to look over the map more closely. “So, what’s there that’s so important?”

Rey blinked at him blankly. “There?”

“There’s no other reason you want to go there?” Finn was confused why Rey would spend so much time on just a dream island she didn’t know was real.

She paused, looking down at her knees covered by the comforter. “Well, not really,” she confessed. “It’s hard to say why I want to go there besides the dreams, but I always wondered if the Force was calling me. And it says there are rumors that the Force is strange there. I wouldn’t mind seeing it for myself.”

“Isn’t the Force always _strange?”_ Finn chuckled. He couldn’t exactly say he understood the Force, but he'd seen Rey use it before and it was both terrifying and awe-inspiring.

Rey playfully shoved his arm. “It’s not _strange,_ Finn. It’s part of life. What makes life.”

He pulled her into his arms, glad this part of their relationship had not disappeared. At least Rey acted a little like she was feeling better, though he knew they were nowhere close to healing from their grief. 

“You want to go,” he guessed.

She nodded against his shoulder. 

“We can’t go now, Rey,” he tried to sound as stern as he could. “You’re not-"

“I’m not saying now,” she retorted. “Just… soon.”

He rubbed her shoulders again. “Soon. All right. Soon.”

* * *

_Soon_ turned out to be over a month later, when Rey figured out a way to procure a transport and leave the guard behind. Finn agreed he only wanted it to be the two of them, especially if the island was as small as they thought. They also had to make a convincing excuse to why the Supreme Leader was going on yet another long exploration when she had reportedly just returned from a five-month long trip. No one seemed the wiser to why Rey had been gone for so long, but she had to lie about what she found. She and Finn developed a list of what worlds were of interest to them during her time of absence, hoping it would lead the nosier officers off their trail. Finally, she had decided if anyone was asking too many questions, she might have to resort to the Force to get them to stop. Finn didn’t like the idea, but he agreed that if it meant keeping them safe, they might have to resort to more drastic measures.

It was as they were headed to the world called Ahch-To that Rey’s anxiety spiked, causing her to sit in the pilot’s seat of their transport with an iron grip on the yoke. 

“Are you all right?” Finn asked, growing worried.

“Y-yeah,” she stammered.

Finn frowned and approached the pilot’s seat. “Rey-"

“I just… I’m not sure what we’re going to find or if there's anything there. What if this is just a waste of time?”

“You’re afraid to be disappointed,” he figured out.

Her breaths became staccato and heaving. “I can’t have that again,” she cried. “Not after-"

She felt his arms wrap around her shoulders. The warmth of them calmed her, but only slightly.

“I know.”

When she looked up at his face, she found pain in his eyes. That was when she reminded herself that Finn was in pain too but instead on focusing on his, she had selfishly put her own hurt first while Finn worked for and comforted the both of them. She should have paid more attention to him when he had so selflessly looked out for her. Already, she regretted that.

“I’m sorry, Finn,” she whispered, rubbing his arms.

He shook his head, confused. “For what?”

“I’d forgotten how much it hurt you to lose him too. I was so focused on myself, but you were the one that had to keep working after we lost him.” A sob ripped out of her throat.

“Hey,” Finn didn’t seem to know what to do. He was crying himself. “Do you need to take a break? I can keep the controls steady for a while.”

This time, she shook her head in the negative. “I can keep going; we’re almost there.” The thought she had held onto finally was blurted out. “Do you want to try again?” she asked nervously. “Not now, but later?”

Finn turned her chair slightly to look at her face. “I want to leave that up to you,” he admitted. There were tear streaks down his face. “You’re the one that has to do all the work. And well, after all that, I wasn’t sure you would want to.”

She nodded. To be honest, she didn’t think her body or her mind were up to trying again, but she wanted to give the procedure a chance and vowed to herself that if nothing came out of it in another few years, she would go with Plan B and take in a baby that had just been extracted from its birth world. The procedure itself could help her manage the pain – maybe even temporarily stop it – and the thought of that alone made the idea worth it to her.

“We’ll talk about it later then,” she resigned herself, besides, they were about to hit atmo and she needed to concentrate on landing.

As she expected, there wasn’t much room to land anywhere, but she found a clear, flat spot at the base of the main island of the ocean world. 

“Well, this isn’t what I would hope for as a vacation spot,” Finn commented as he looked out the viewport and into the gray drizzle outside, “but I suppose beggars can’t be choosers. At least we’ve got an ocean view.”

Rey would have rolled her eyes if she wasn’t about to fling herself outside the transport to finally see the island of her dreams. She couldn’t believe that after all these years, she had finally found it.

Before Finn could stop her, she pulled on a light rain jacket she'd gotten from the First Order’s clothing supply and opened the transport door.

It had been years since she'd last felt rain on her skin, back when she was still an apprentice and sent on missions to survey the First Order’s occupation on worlds. Cool droplets fell on her, drenching her quickly, but Rey could not bring herself to care. The transport had a sonic ‘fresher installed and she could dry off inside. 

To her left, she spotted a series of stone steps carved out along the cliffs, looping around the island. The pathway was so long that she couldn’t tell where it ended or where it led to. She wanted to explore the island right away, but it would be dark soon and the stones were slick with water. It would be safer to wait until morning, at least.

The feeling of being watched overcame her, and she whipped around to find Finn standing in the transport’s doorway, smiling at her.

“What?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Nothing,” he replied. “Haven’t seen you look so happy in forever.”

Still standing in the rain, she tried to remember the last time she felt happy and realized it had probably been when she had reached the four-month mark with her pregnancy. It had been the first time she had carried that long, and it had given her so much hope that finally, _finally,_ she would get to hold her own child in her arms.

Well, technically she did, but not how she imagined it. 

They still hadn’t decided what to do with their son’s ashes and took the box that held them with them, in case inspiration came. Rey knew they couldn’t hold on to him forever, but the First Order didn’t have ceremonies for babies. The bodies of the babies that died suddenly in the nursery or from illness were disposed of quietly, unceremoniously. Only the highest of ranks and bravest of soldiers ever were acknowledged when they fell in battle. Kylo and Snoke had been brushed to the side and Rey oversaw their burial on an abandoned world in an unmarked grave herself. Passings in the First Order were only held in the hearts of the people that would remember them.

At the same time, she worried if they did find a place to finally leave their son to rest that she would somehow forget him, and that didn’t feel right to her either. No one in the First Order knew he ever existed, and it was hard enough for her to go about her day without wishing that someone knew about him. But she knew it was for the best.

She looked back out to the ocean before turning to Finn and heading back in where it was warm. This was something, she told herself, that she could think about later.

But there was still that feeling that she was being watched.

Before she went inside the transport, she checked back outside one more time, looking around for any sign of life and finding nothing but the rain and wind.

* * *

They woke with the sunrise and got an early start on the journey up the cliffs. The rain stopped sometime in the night, but it still left everything drenched and cold. They would have to be careful walking up the stones.

“Are you sure you’re up to this?” Finn asked her after they had been walking for fifteen minutes along the steps. With how steep the path was, they found they needed frequent stops to rest their tired ankles.

“You sound like the one that isn’t up to this,” she laughed. “You can go back and-"

“-No,” Finn cut her off. “I don’t want us to be separated on this island until we know for sure it is safe.”

She hadn’t told Finn that she sensed another life on the island yet, but that was because she wasn’t sure herself. For all she knew, she could have been sensing just a giant fish that lived in the ocean and she didn't want to worry him for no reason.

It took them almost an hour to reach the top until they came to a hilly meadow, green with moss and sea grass. Rey almost felt breathless for a different reason than the hike. When she looked out to the nearest cliff, all she could see was the morning sun reflecting on the calm seas.

“Uh, Rey?” Finn’s voice was nervous.

“Hmm?”

“Was an old guy in a cloak something you saw in your dreams?”

She turned around to look at him. “Why would I dream about an old guy in a-"

Rey stopped short when she saw that across the meadow, a figure of a man in a beige cloak watched them closely. 

Under the hood of his cowl, the man stared, wide-eyed with shock. Then, as if it would give him a better look of the pair that had just ventured up the cliff, he pulled the hood back to reveal a weathered face under an unkept gray beard. He looked like a man that had seen too much in all his years, but Rey wondered if he was really all that old.

“Who are you?” he asked them, then he caught a glimpse of the insignia on their coats. Instantly, his expression changed to anger. “First Order, huh? Here to destroy this ancient place too?”

Rey and Finn looked at each other with confusion and worry, not knowing how to respond.

“We’re not here to harm it,” Finn insisted.

“We just wanted to check it out,” Rey explained. “I had dreams of this island for years and we just finally found it.”

The man looked at her directly now. “You? Who are you?”

“My name is Rey,” she offered. “This is my partner, Finn.”

“I sense darkness within you,” the man accused of Rey.

“The dark side,” she agreed. “The Force is strong within me.”

“And you don’t know who I am?” The man waited, watching them expectantly.

She gave the man a hard look over, trying to decide if she had ever seen him before. Nothing was familiar about him, though she thought there was something about the brightness of his eyes that made her think twice. He didn’t seem like someone that had been in the First Order and she would have probably remembered those eyes had she had met him on Jakku.

Rey shook her head. “Sorry, I don’t believe we've met.”

“I know we haven’t met,” the man snapped in response. “I meant do you know that I’m Luke Skywalker and that I know you’re here to kill me?”

The last part wasn’t said as a question, but Rey found herself flabbergasted that this man was the legendary Luke Skywalker. She knew he must be real because of how obsessed Snoke and Kylo had been about finding him, but once the captured Resistance pilot from Jakku escaped and the droid that reportedly carried a map to Skywalker’s location had vanished, Rey assumed that she would never get the chance to find the last Jedi herself. After years of not hearing of him or having a whim that someone with a lightsaber would show up to kill her, Rey stopped thinking about a man that may as well have been a myth.

But now, here he was in the flesh.

Her hand instinctively went for the hilt of her old master’s lightsaber. She had not used it in almost a year, but kept it at her side for her own security and to remind her why she was the Supreme Leader.

At Skywalker’s startle when he glimpsed the weapon, Rey pulled her hand away, allowing her coat to cover the hilt again.

“That lightsaber,” he said. “I know it.”

“It’s mine,” she told him. “I took it from my master Kylo Ren after I killed him.”

Even Finn couldn’t tear his eyes from Rey. She rarely talked about what happened that day in the throne room when she walked in to find Supreme Leader Snoke’s body in two pieces on the floor and Kylo sitting calmly on the throne. It wasn’t something she liked to talk about because it reminded her how afraid she had been when Kylo demanded she pledge her loyalty to him and Rey could not bring herself to do it.

She remembered how he made her blood boil and her sight go red with rage.

_“You come from nothing. You are nothing.”_

But Skywalker’s reaction was one of shock again, and disbelief. “You?” he asked again. “You’re telling me that _you_ killed Kylo Ren?”

“Looks can be deceiving,” she spat, though she would admit it was more luck and desperation to survive that probably played a hand in her victory. “Kylo was going to kill me so I killed him first.”

“When was that?”

She wasn’t sure why this was so interesting to him, but nonetheless tried to calculate the timeline in her head. “Three years ago…?” She looked at Finn, who nodded in agreement. Had it been that long? It seemed like a lifetime ago. Then, she shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. What matters is that I am the Supreme Leader of the First Order and my duty is to make sure you won’t stand in our way.”

Before she made a conscious thought about it, the lightsaber was in her hand, ignited and flickering dangerous red. The unstable blades reminded her of fire, untamed, uncontrollable. Much like the man that created it. It still made her nervous to use it.

She pointed the blade directly at Skywalker, waiting for him to fight back. Perhaps this was why the Force had shown her this island, to help her finish what her masters started.

Instead, Skywalker stood there and closed his eyes, waiting expectantly. “Go ahead.”

Freezing in her place, Rey found she suddenly couldn't bring herself to move. Why wouldn’t he fight her? Wouldn’t the last Jedi see a dark side user and take up his own duty to rid the galaxy of her? 

“Well?” 

Instead of moving forward, Rey lowered the lightsaber and deactivated it. She looked back and forth to the two men, noting their expressions again like they couldn’t believe she wasn’t going in for the kill. 

Skywalker tried to egg her on. “The Supreme Leader of the First Order won’t kill an old man,” he laughed.

She growled at him. “I did not come here for you, Skywalker,” she told him. “But if you are not going to fight me, then I don’t see a point in killing you. Perhaps you are too weak to fight me.” She turned to Finn and placed her hand on his back. “We came here because the island called to me,” she yelled back to the Jedi Master. “We’ll leave you alone if you leave us alone.”

With a grin, Skywalker held his hands up. “Sounds fair to me.”

Rey didn’t want to see this man anymore. “Come on, Finn,” she said, leading him towards the opposite side of the island where Skywalker was standing.

Without a word, but making one last glance at the Jedi, Finn obediently followed Rey.

By the time they were out of earshot and walking down the stone steps to the other side of the island, Rey was seething with frustration and was thinking about kicking a few rocks over because she felt like it. Her stomping scared a couple of the watery-eyed, pudgy bird creatures that inhabited the island and they ran squawking down the hill. 

Why did she come here? Was she supposed to come here or did her mind just form an image of a child’s wishful thinking and Ahch-To coincidentally look a lot like it? 

Why did she have to come to the one place that no one had found before – the place where the last Jedi hid himself away from the world? Because now that she was here, she felt like she had to do something because Skywalker was the enemy.

Yet despite everything, she couldn’t bring herself to raise her weapon to strike him. Had he fought back or raised his own weapon, she wouldn’t have hesitated. Instead, he had just stood there like he was waiting for her to end it all. She recalled all the faces she saw in their final moments, scared and unable to fight back as Kylo raised his blade upon them. Eventually, she had also brought this fear upon many faces herself.

Why had Skywalker come here anyway? She would have thought after so long in solitude he might have wanted to return to civilization and his sister with her Resistance. General Organa was almost as elusive as the Jedi Master and while she had made many appearances via holo and propaganda, somehow, she managed to stay hidden while her brother had been found by chance and accident. Was there a reason he came here or a reason he stayed?

“What’s that?” Finn pointed out to the water.

“Huh?” She looked around, then spotted something where he was pointing. They moved closer to the water at the edge of land where the sand met the sea. It wasn’t a beach, but the area was large enough for them to walk across the strip of sand that surrounded the base of the island.

It looked like an old starfighter had fallen into the water. White with red markings, it was now a mere skeleton of its former self where the water eroded and rusted the metal. She walked into the shallows of the water, not minding that the thick wool material of her pant legs were getting soaked through.

“It looks like an old X-wing,” she said and racked her brain to see if she could remember anything important about Skywalker. Kylo had provided details in a report over what to look out for, the things he owned, the people and places he associated with, it had been an oddly detailed report for Kylo.

There had been something about an X-wing that Skywalker had kept after his time in the Rebellion. Red… something. It had been a number, if she recalled correctly, not that it mattered what it had been called.

Yes, this was Skywalker’s X-wing, but if he had been such a good pilot like she had been led to believe, why was it in the water?

“Do you think he had crash landed here?” she asked Finn, hoping to get his opinion.

He stood next to her to get a better look. “Doesn’t look like a crash,” he deducted. Nothing’s broken off the structure.”

“Right,” she agreed. “Almost as if someone had put it there on purpose.”

“It’s been here for a while if it looks like this,” Finn added.

“Which tells me the old man wasn’t intending to leave here. Why?” 

Finn shrugged. “Not sure. Why would anyone want to live on this island alone and stranded?”

That was the big question and Rey was not sure if she would ever get an answer. “I don’t think he’s a threat to the First Order after all, Finn.”

“I don’t either.”

It felt like she was betraying someone for thinking Skywalker wasn’t someone she needed to be concerned about after all. The First Order hadn’t quite forgotten about him, but after eight years of searching with no trace of where he had gone, Hux and everyone else had moved on with their work. 

“I’m going to leave him alone,” she decided. “Do you think I’m being stupid?” Even if she wasn’t happy with Finn’s answer, she needed to hear it.

He shrugged again. “Not sure what I would do in your place, but I think you’re right and I don’t think he ever intended to leave here.” Reaching his arm out, he brushed a strand of her hair that had fallen out of its buns. “I won’t tell anyone if you don’t tell.” He winked.

She turned to face him, framing his face with her hands and she leaned him slightly forward to kiss him.

* * *

True to their word, Rey and Finn left Skywalker alone and he left them alone. If on the chance they came across each other while exploring the island, they nodded to each other wordlessly before continuing on their respectful way.

But after three days of exploring the island, they believed they had seen everything the tiny area offered. They saw the village with the strange amphibian-like creatures that lived a more traditional life. They saw the blubbery animals that stayed at the base of the island, sunning themselves on the beaches. Rey even saw the cliff she used to overlook in her dreams.

There didn’t seem to be much else here.

She went back to the cliff alone one morning to think, sitting with her legs dangling off the side. It was a low cliff, but slick from where the waves hit and broke against the edged, meaning she needed to be careful. 

This time, she ventured to another area of the cliff and noticed a mysterious hole in the ground, covered by seaweed. It gurgled at her, like it was trying to talk to her. She guessed that when the tide came in, the water flooded the hole and kept it hidden.

Rey sensed a dark presence about it, reminding her of the power of the dark side. The rumors had been true about the island: the Force was weird here, but she couldn’t put her finger on why exactly. It almost seemed to drown the island in its power, cover it like a thick, invisible blanket. She could sense both the darkness and the light at the same time and instead of fighting each other for dominance, like she would have expected, they almost seemed to peacefully coexist with one another.

She tried to look inside the hole, but found it was too dark to see anything.

“Probably nothing there to interest you,” a voice came from behind her. 

With a startle, she drew her lightsaber from her belt and was ready to ignite it. “Who’s there?” She turned around.

Skywalker stood behind her with his arms crossed and one eyebrow arched. “Really, besides your friend, who else is here on this island? The porgs aren’t going to talk.”

She rolled her eyes. “What are you doing here? I thought our agreement of ignoring each other was going well.”

“I was waiting to talk to you alone.” Skywalker approached her. “The Force has changed since you came here, making me believe that you are more than meets the eye.”

“You’re saying I’m changing the Force? Really?” 

“It’s become unbalanced. Like the galaxy.”

Rey shook her head. “I don’t understand,” though really, she did and wanted to deny it, “the First Order is bringing balance and order back to the galaxy.”

“You’d like to believe that,” Skywalker challenged. He looked her right in the eye, making Rey wonder if he could read her mind the way Kylo could. “But I know you know it isn’t true.”

She sighed and sat back down on the cliff edge, feeling defeated. “It’s hard to win a war to begin with,” she admitted. “But even when I try to change things, I can’t get anything to fall the way I want.” 

“And that’s where you are going wrong,” he said. “Balance isn’t achieved because of one person, it is achieved by the consideration of everyone.”

She shook her head again. “I don’t really understand that either.”

“You can feel the light and dark here, can’t you?” He walked over to stand closer to her. “Tell me, how do they interact together?”

Closing her eyes, she focused on the Force. “They exist together. Not quite in harmony, but each one takes and each one gives.”

“Balance. True balance.”

“But war happens regardless of balance,” Rey argued. “And with luck, things balance each other out eventually. You can’t tell me there was true balance in the New Republic when slavers still existed and children were starving.” The idea cut into her heart.

Skywalker gave her that knowing look. “I don’t know if true balance can ever be achieved,” he admitted. “But I know there have been times in history when we have come close. The Empire was not one of those times.”

Rey kicked her heels against the edge of the cliff, frustrated. While she couldn’t care less of what the Empire had done, she knew that many of the First Order had served the Empire and wanted the regime to look like that of the Empire. Even Rey as the Supreme Leader mirrored the Emperor, even if she didn’t have a second hand to serve her the way Darth Vader had. Kylo wanted that for himself and she had other ideas.

She looked back at the hole, thinking. “If this is a place of darkness,” she surmised, “then there should be a place of light on this island.” She turned to the Jedi Master, looking for answers.

He smiled at her. “There’s a place I can take you to.”

* * *

Staring up at the massive, ancient and moss-covered husk of an uneti tree, Rey could not believe how much light was radiating from it. She would have thought something nearly dead would have faded with light by now. Luke pointed to a gap in the tree, widened and weathered away with age. It was big enough for anyone to step inside.

The tree was warm and dry inside, but immediately, Rey’s gaze fell on a group of books that sat on a shelf in a nook in the wood. She approached them, letting her fingers skim the old spines of the bound books and felt a strange energy from them.

“The sacred Jedi texts,” Luke explained. “Hidden here for centuries.”

“What exactly is this island?” she asked.

“I searched for this place for decades,” he answered. “And I believe that this is where the first Jedi temple once stood.” Sighing, he looked outside the tree. “It’s gone now, abandoned, but it’s remnants remain. You can feel that power here, right?”

“Well,” she said, “I certainly feel _something.”_

This place felt safe, like even when there were storms and strong winds, the Force protected this place. Nature, Rey had found, was simple in how it felt in the Force, but the energy the plant life and many animals emitted was often pure light. There were times she often thought it would be nice to live a life that was so uncomplicated, for it was normally impossible for even the simplest of sentient life to fulfill. 

“These are what you came here for?” she guessed.

“I did.” Luke’s face fell. “But they did not help me.”

“With what?”

“After Kylo destroyed my school,” his eyes darted to the lightsaber at Rey’s side, “I came here to figure out how to start again. These were not the teachings of the Jedi Order, but techniques of an earlier time. And then, I realized that even with this knowledge, the galaxy might no longer need Jedi but rather something else and I am not the right person to teach that.”

She started to piece everything together. “And that’s why you don't wish to leave here.”

“I plan to die here. But I regretted that I told no one about this place because now I cannot pass on what I have learned. There must always be light and darkness but it can coexist. I might not be the person to bring about this change, but there might be someone who could one day.” He looked at Rey pointedly.

“I’m not that person either,” she snapped.

He held up his hands. “Wasn’t suggesting it. But now you know these texts exist and where they are, and I wish to give you my last wish. Will you listen to it?”

Well, she didn’t see the harm in hearing the old man out. “Sure.”

“One day, when you meet a young Force-user with no alignment to either the light or darkness, tell them about this place. Perhaps they will have better luck than us.”

That sounded reasonable enough and didn’t seem like a potentially bad idea for herself. “Fine, then,” she agreed.

For the first time, she saw Skywalker’s smile, but she still had her own questions to get answered.

“How can I bring balance back to the galaxy?” she asked, hoping he might have an idea. “Or… as close as it can get to being balanced?”

Skywalker’s grin widened. “I have an idea, but in order for it to happen, you have to let me use your comms.”

* * *

By the time they returned to the transport, Finn was waiting outside for her looking frantic.

“You’ve been gone for hours,” he gasped. “Are you okay?”

She stopped him from fretting over her. “I’m fine, Finn. I think I know why we came here now.”

He looked over her shoulder to see Master Skywalker standing behind her. “Him?” Finn looked confused. “But I thought-“

“He’s going to help us,” Rey tried to explain. “I realize now that we’ve been going about the war all wrong.”

Then, she leaned forward to whisper in his ear. “I think I found a place for him. Will you get him while I help Skywalker with what he needs? It might be awhile and we can have some privacy.” Leaning back, she saw that Finn understood what she meant.

“Yeah, I would like that.”

She squeezed his hand and went over to the transport to let Skywalker through the door, showing him the cockpit and how to put the comms in encryption. Then, when she saw he was settled, she went back outside to find Finn waiting for her, a small back slung over his shoulder and cradled carefully under his arm.

“It’s up a bit away, but I know you’ll love it.”

* * *

When he saw the tree for the first time, Finn blinked his eyes and looked at the ancient husk of a trunk. “This is the place?”

“Yeah,” Rey said nervously. She held her hand clasped together, twitching her fingers. “What do you think?”

A part of him didn’t think there was a perfect place, but as he looked upon the rolling slopes and the deep green of the moss and sea grass, Finn realized that this might be one of the more beautiful places they had looked at lately. It also held more meaning to Rey, obviously. The location and how remote the island was made him sad to think they might not be able to visit often, but then he also understood that no matter where they chose, they likely couldn't visit as much as they wanted anyway. If the Supreme Leader and her consort made frequent trips to a specific spot, someone would have questions eventually and start digging to see what they could find.

And the tree was something special, even if it might not have much time left. He wondered how old it was and how deep its roots went into the island. It almost stood as a testament to time itself and a promise that this place will remain in its natural state forever.

“I think it’s perfect,” he finally answered her.

They took their time finding a spot in the ground where they wouldn’t interrupt the tree or its roots, finally finding a place far enough away where they could safely dig. Human ashes, they knew, could harm the soil and prevent the tree and the surrounding plants from getting the nutrients they needed. Taking turns with the one small shovel they brought with them, they dug a small hole about a meter down before they decided they made it deep enough.

Finn went to grab the box from where he set it carefully on the ground and he moved next to Rey for a moment. She leaned up against him as they both held the box, looking at it sadly.

When they were ready, Finn went to lower the box into the hole before Rey stopped him.

“Not the box,” she said. “That was from a Sith artifact. This place is full of light.”

Nodding, Finn lowered the box to the ground again, this time opening the lid and carefully folding the corners of the white fabric they laid the ashes on up so he could safely move its contents out. 

They were interrupted by a presence in the Force and Rey looked around to find Skywalker had made his way here, obviously wondering where they had gotten to. At first, he looked at the hole, confused, but then, after seeing the white bundle in Finn’s hands, he seemed to register what was going on before he looked away ashamed that he had interrupted them. He remained silent while they did their work, but he waited patiently, if not a little awkwardly.

With tenderness, Finn lowered the fabric into the hole and sat it down, allowing himself to unfold the corners in a way that nested nicely into the ground. “Just like this?” he asked Rey. “With the fabric?”

She nodded before she grabbed Finn’s hand in hers and began to push the loose earth back over the hole with her other hand. Following her lead, Finn started to do the same. Within a couple of minutes, the hole was filled again. He could almost imagine how one day, and probably soon, the upturned soil would be covered with moss.

They took one last moment to stare at the spot where their son was now resting. Unmarked, Finn was certain that if they returned, they might never know exactly where he was, but there would be no doubt in their minds he was here. There was a large stone nearby, and he noted its surroundings, hoping to burn the image into his memory.

With a last deep breath, he stood up, Rey following him. They turned back to Skywalker who was still standing frozen in his spot.

“I’m sorry,” he said, and he felt like he really meant it. Finn wasn’t sure if Skywalker actually knew _whose_ ashes those were, but he appreciated the fact that someone finally acknowledged their loss.

“Well?” Rey asked him, looking hopeful in her misery.

“I sent my sister a message, but we might have to wait for a reply. We haven’t spoken in years.”

She nodded and Finn stood there while taking in the fact that Rey wanted to speak with the leader of the enemy. He wasn’t sure why she had such a change of heart, but he knew she must have her reasons. He would talk with her later, when they were alone again.

After Rey thanked Skywalker and told him they would find him again when they received an answer from Leia Organa, they started to turn back to the path that would take them to their transport, stopping when Skywalker called out to them.

“Finn, Rey,” he said when they glanced back at him. “I know you will find the happiness you are seeking, one day.”

With an appreciative nod, Finn turned his head back to the path and began his descent again, Rey pressing up firmly against his side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a depressing chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

It may have been eight years, but Rey could not bring herself to feel homesick or nostalgic for the hot sands of Jakku and the musty old rations that used to make up nearly every meal she had growing up. 

It hadn’t changed a bit, and this felt like a problem to her. She quickly went through the records on Jakku that had been logged by the First Order since she left. There had been a short mission led by Kylo Ren where a Resistance pilot had been captured and later escaped and a short occupation afterwards where stormtroopers were tasked to look for the pilot and his droid, but that was it. For all its history and ties with the First Order, Jakku was just another gear in the Star Destroyer.

She'd half the mind to go check out Niima Outpost to see if the old scumbag Unkar Plutt was still around, ripping off the scavengers for all their hard day’s work. When she left, Rey had been powerless to do anything, knowing she couldn’t stand up to the one person that controlled the food rations in the place without repercussions. Now, she returned as the Supreme Leader of the First Order, angry and more powerful than the Croulate could ever imagine.

But she was here for a reason and it took her a moment to stare at the canvas tents erected in the Graveyard where the Empire fell and the First Order rose from the ashes. Alone, she stood at the top of a dune, remembering how those skeleton Star Destroyers had been both her playground and her livelihood. Alone, just like she spent all those years on this desert.

No, that wasn’t right, she reminded herself. She wasn’t alone this time.

Rey had to stifle a laugh as she watched Finn try to run up the sand dune to meet her. He stumbled and she shook her head at his attempt. Some time, she’d have to teach him how to run like a scavenger.

“Well, I think it’s safe to say the First Order has no idea we’re here,” Finn reported. He didn’t think they were followed as they had come here after drifting around space while waiting for an agreement with the Resistance. All the First Order should know is that the Supreme Leader and her consort had left for a short investigation into a world that might be of interest. Finn had even created a convincing report to say there was nothing left on Ahch-To. If they were lucky, they might even be able to erase the world from the records.

They stopped and stared at the tents below, pausing to decide how to proceed.

“So, we just go down there unannounced?” Finn asked. “Sounds like a great way to get shot at.”

She shrugged. “Get shot with an army, get shot without one. They are expecting us, so unless we really are walking right into a trap, we should be fine.”

“Guess you’re right.” Still, Finn didn’t look happy. With a sigh, he took the first step forward. “Let’s get this over with.”

Allowing herself to slide down the dunes, Rey watched as Finn stumbled again and nearly fell into the sand. At the bottom of the dune, near the edge of the Graveyard, a small group of Resistance fighters stood guard.

It only took them a few steps before they were ordered to stop.

“Identify yourselves!” demanded a woman with a skin tone that reminded Rey of the clay composites found near the canyons of this world. Her hair was blond and cut short. Rey noted she was wearing a flight jacket. 

Rey stood firmly where she stood, not paying the blasters aimed at her any mind. “I am the Supreme Leader of the First Order, accompanied by my consort, here to speak with Senator Organa.”

“Well, I’m not a senator anymore,” a raspy woman’s voice came from another direction. “It’s kind of hard to be one when there is no senate to work with.”

Her eyes widened as she watched a petite woman, fair skin starting to tan from sitting in the sun, approach them. As a little girl, she had heard stories of the fierce Princess Leia, young and beautiful, tragic and proud. Some of those stories turned out to be more fact than myth, but she learned later just how much the Princess of Alderaan had done for the Rebellion. Even if they didn’t necessarily have the same politics, Rey could appreciate a legend when she saw one.

The two women looked the other up and down, sizing up each other.

“My brother told me you were young, but you are barely old enough to be an adult,” commented Organa.

“Well, you know, out with the old, in with the new,” Rey replied cooly.

Organa glanced at Finn and the Resistance troops in the area. “Let’s continue this in the tent.”

Rey turned to Finn one more time before she followed behind the leader of the Resistance. They were led to a tent towards the center of the camp, one of the larger ones. Inside, it was bare except for a cheap metal table surrounded by folding chairs. Rey was thankful there was padding on the chairs, certain the metal would be scorching if she sat directly on it. These Resistance fighters obviously weren't from places like Jakku where the sun was the biggest danger.

“Sorry for the lack of extravagance,” Organa said, though she didn’t sound apologetic at all. “We don’t exactly have the credits to cater to Supreme Leaders.”

“I don’t mind,” Rey responded. It was obvious to her that Organa was expecting her to be elitist and offended. “The First Order isn’t a kingdom, and I have lived with a lot less.” She laughed. “Would you believe it if I told you that I once lived in the belly of an AT-AT less than 20 kilometers from here?”

She could tell the confession had shocked Organa, and she smirked knowingly. She may be the Supreme Leader, but Rey had not been born to luxury like the other woman had. It was the people in public service and politics that claimed they understood the plight of the poor and downtrodden but had never known hardship themselves that made her blood boil. Even if the First Order’s attempts at bringing the galaxy back to order was not going the way she wanted to, Rey at least could say that none of her advisers and commanders had lived that life. Everyone was equal in the Order and that allowed everyone to have the chance to rise to greatness.

Well, actually, General Hux and some of the old Imperials hadn't lived the life of a soldier raised from birth. Come to think of it, these were the people giving Rey and Finn the most headaches.

General Organa gave her a strange smile. “You certainly are full of surprises,” she commented. “I take it that’s why you selected here for our meeting place?”

“Jakku could be considered neutral ground,” Rey admitted. “I ordered my troops to stay off the world. If they don’t hear from me in two days, they have orders to land.” That was actually a lie because of course the First Order didn't know she was there, but she had to make herself seem threatening. If anyone knew that she was meeting the leader of the Resistance, it would have gotten back to Hux and all her plans would have gone down the drain.

It was really a shame that killing him would probably mean a significant divide of loyalties in the Order...

Organa nodded. “Good. And we have your word that you won’t send a strike the moment you leave?”

“You’d be gone long before then, I bet.”

“We will,” said Organa. “Now, why have you come all this way after seeing my brother?”

“Lady Ren,” Finn interrupted, and Rey almost didn’t realize he was addressing _her_ so formally. She was so absorbed in her own thoughts and he had been so quiet that she had almost forgot he was there. Politics made him uneasy. “Would it be all right if I stepped outside?”

She sensed he was uncomfortable being here. “You may,” she agreed.

“As long as you stay out of trouble,” Organa added. “You’ll be watched.”

“Of course,” he understood, then glanced back at Rey. “If you need me, just call.”

“It’ll be fine.”

They waited quietly for Finn to exit before the women regarded each other again. Then, Organa went to sit down at the table, looking at Rey expectantly.

“I didn’t know the Supreme Leader was also a Knight of Ren,” she began.

Rey shook her head. “There are no Knights of Ren,” she corrected. “I killed Kylo, but the rest did not see me as their leader. Instead of fighting me, they abandoned the First Order. They are traitors, out there somewhere in uncharted space.”

“Are they something we should be concerned about?”

Flashes of memory haunted her as she thought about that day in the throne room. She recalled Kylo’s body on the floor where she had miraculously slain him, his lightsaber lying next to him next to her own broken spear. When the Knights or Ren did not answer her summons over the next few days, Rey knew she was alone.

“We don’t even know where they are,” she confessed. “If they are causing trouble anywhere, we haven’t received information.”

Organa went quiet again, this time, her eyes looked at the far end of the tent, unfocused, as if she were lost in thought. Then, she spoke, “It’s hard to believe someone that looks like you could have done it.” She smirked again. “But I know that looks can be deceiving.”

The way she gazed at Rey made her feel nervous. It was like Organa could peer into her soul and pick her apart, almost reminding her of Kylo. She wondered why the two of them seemed so similar when they were exact opposites. Perhaps, it was just how Rey felt when she was intimidated.

She sat down in the other chair on the opposite side of the table, trying to look as serious as possible.

“As much as I’d like to discuss my predecessor’s failures,” Rey changed the subject, “that’s not why I’m here.”

Organa leaned her head against her folded hands over the table. “And tell me, Supreme Leader, why are you here?”

Glancing around the tent, Rey made sure that no one was peering inside. Hesitant, she turned back to General Organa and heaved a sigh.

“The galaxy is out of order and I’m not sure how to fix it,” she confessed.

* * *

Finn wandered around the campsite, weary of the group of soldiers that tailed him and was careful not to get too close to anything that looked like it might be important. He was looking for a quiet place to wait for Rey to finish up her talks with General Organa and honestly, most of what he could see with a quick scan of the site wasn’t anything the First Order didn’t know about. The Resistance was a formidable foe for a group that was bare bones and tight on their purse strings.

He walked up another dune before sliding down the other side of it, leading to a clearing where the Resistance’s starfighters were lined up. Finn didn’t really care much about X-wings or astromech droids. For one, piloting was not his thing, and two, the First Order had a more superior system than a couple of individual starfighters. They had already proven that the greatest Resistance pilots were no match for a Star Destroyer and its defenses in the form of a swarm of TIEs. He'd given orders to shoot down reconnaissance patrols before and even the best of pilots hadn’t a chance against a honing blast from the _Finalizer._

What he really wondered was exactly why they were there. Sure, Rey told him that she wanted to meet with General Organa over compatible interests, but he wanted to know why the sudden interest with aligning with the enemy. Skywalker couldn't be the only reason; Finn was hard pressed that a single man that was more of a stranger than anything else would suddenly change Rey's heart. Stubborn as she was, once she had a goal, she rarely changed her mind. No, there was something besides extending a hand of friendship out, no matter what she said about the Force being imbalanced. The only time Rey ever cared about the Force was when she was using it to get her way.

She was hiding something and Finn had the mind to ask her later, the next time they were alone.

A face caught his eye, and he twirled around to get a better look. One of the soldiers watching him shouted at him to keep moving but he ignored him for the moment just to see if he was correct.

The man in the orange flight suit seemed to sense that someone was watching him and turned around from where he was crouching on the ground to inspect a black X-wing. He regarded Finn for a moment, eyes squinting like he was trying to figure out who he was. Then, realization set in as his eyes widened.

He said something to the white and orange BB unit assisting him before he stood up and walked over to Finn.

“You’re-" he paused, like he still wasn’t sure.

“Poe Dameron,” Finn breathed. “You’re alive.”

They moved closer to each other, regarding one another like old friends. Poe looked a lot better than Finn had last seen him, though that was probably an obvious conclusion. When they parted ways years ago, Poe had just been tortured.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Thanks to you. Did you finally get out? Are you joining us?”

His smile was so hopeful that Finn wasn’t sure how to respond at first. Then, his silence became his answer as he watched that smile fall.

“Then why are you-?” Poe began.

The volunteer with blonde hair looked back and forth between the two men, confused. “Poe,” she began slowly. “How do you two know each other?”

Poe looked excited again. “This is the guy that saved my life, Karé. The stormtrooper I told you all about. Doesn’t look like one anymore.”

The woman, Karé, bit her lip. “Well, you’re right about one thing. He’s not a stormtrooper anymore.”

Confusion set over Poe’s features. “But I thought-?” He looked at Finn for clarification.

Finn shook his head. “She’s right. I’m not just a stormtrooper now. I go by Major Finn, Consort of the Supreme Leader.”

At the name, Poe smiled slightly. “You kept it.”

Returning the grin, Finn said appreciatively, “It was the only name anyone had ever given me.”

They spent time catching up with one another, almost like two old friends seeing each other for the first time in years. Poe told Finn what happened after he escaped the _Finalizer_ in a stolen TIE, crash landing on Jakku and wandering around aimlessly until to his luck, BB-8 found him in the dunes.

“I can’t believe I got away with it,” Finn confessed. “I didn’t think anyone would believe that excuse.” He recalled frantically finding a supply closet, tossing himself against the shelves to make it look like someone had placed him there in case anyone came across him. When he heard the alarms go off and no one looking for him after Poe made his escape, Finn allowed himself to walk out and get back to the crowd. No one was wiser to the fact that FN-2187, a fresh soldier, had freed a prisoner, allow him to escape, and not get caught.

They avoided discussing what they did after their encounter out of loyalty to their own respectable group. Finn didn’t want anyone to know he was on Crait or a part of any other battle, especially not as a leading strategist. He was smart enough to know that tension was already high between himself and the Resistance soldiers keeping an eye on him.

But there was one thing that Poe couldn’t help but ask and Finn pretended not to see all the interested gazes of the surrounding soldiers.

“So… the Supreme Leader’s Consort, huh?”

Finn shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah.”

“I would have never guessed that my hero is also a lady’s man.” Poe winked at him, though Finn didn’t quite understand the term. He couldn’t exactly call himself popular before he met Rey and certainly wasn’t someone that was getting invited into the beds of his fellow ‘troopers. Up to the moment when Rey had invited him for dinner that day in the throne room, he had kissed… three of his fellow cadets? It felt like a lifetime ago when Finn connected with a fellow lonely soul for a couple of stolen moments, grasping for any affection they could spare. 

And really, when he thought about it, he remembered the day he first kneeled at the feet of the lovely young Supreme Leader and sensed something beyond bloodlust and anger in her. Even under her mask, she could not hide her pain from him. Rey was nothing like Snoke or Kylo and Finn was one of the few people that figured that out from the start. She was another lonely soul that crossed his path, and though the more sensible side of Finn told him to keep his distance, his heart tugged at the sight of her. Suddenly, he dared himself to look her in the eyes and speak to her like he would have to Zeroes, Nines, and Slip. Each time he stood in her presence, he became more and more daring when she seemed to sit up a little straighter at his arrival, when he heard a smile in her voice when she said his name.

He hadn’t meant to fall in love with Rey, but it happened anyway. 

For the first time, Finn realized he could love someone, despite all the First Order had done to try to stop it. He loved Rey when she was angry and sick just as much as he loved her when she was smiling and laughing. There was no one else he was willing to risk having a family with; no one else he wanted to stand by as he buried the son he never got to know…

When he spotted Rey walk towards the starfighters with General Organa, Finn only saw the one person that mattered the most to him.

“What’s going on here, Poe?” General Organa demanded.

Rey looked between the two men, looking as lost as the pilots had when Poe approached him. He noticed the soldiers kept themselves at a respectable distance, not looking directly at her, but standing awkwardly. None of them knew what protocol called for when the mysterious leader of the enemy was in their midst as a guest.

“This is the stormtrooper I told you about, General.” Poe beamed. “The one that got me out.”

The Supreme Leader’s attention drifted to her lover. “Finn?” 

For his part, Poe had the audacity to realize he might have said too much or something wrong. He looked back and forth between the Supreme Leader and her consort worriedly.

“Rey,” Finn took a deep breath, bracing himself. “I told you how I got my name, but there was something that I have kept from you.”

Betrayal struck her face.

* * *

He used to laugh at those holo dramas Rey lifted from the HoloNet and watch with him at night. The couples in those dramas were… well… overdramatic. Their fights almost always ending in someone (usually the man, in the case of a male/female relationship) sleeping on the couch for the night until the next day when they would undoubtedly make up and have a morning of passion.

Finn no longer sees the humor of the situation now that he’s in it.

It wasn’t a couch either, but the passenger’s seat of the transport. At least it could be pushed back into a reclining position that he found very comfortable. Yet he woke up periodically and glanced wistfully at the closed door of the sleeping quarters before closing his eyes again.

Rey hadn’t been happy with the discovery that Finn had lied about the fateful day he met the pilot scheduled for execution. His involvement in Dameron’s escape had gone unnoticed, and he decided it was better not to acknowledge it, even to his partner. The hurt he saw on her face made him wish he had at least thought about bringing it up with her earlier in their relationship.

Instead of saying anything though, she looked at him with contempt for a moment before she went into the sleeping quarters and closed the door behind her. He thought he heard her mumble that she couldn't do this right now. They'd been angry with each other before, but never like this, and this made him realize it might be for the best to leave her alone for the night and try to work things out in the morning.

Being banished to the chair made him realize how restless his sleep was without Rey by his side. He never used to have problems getting to sleep without someone next to him and he wondered when that changed or it his issues just stemmed from his anxiousness. Surely Rey would forgive him for this?

…She had to, right?

It turned out to be impossible to keep his bad thoughts at bay. That night, it felt like he never went to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Rey rose from the sleeping quarters and stood in the shuttle’s kitchenette, drinking a cup of tea. Finn hadn’t heard her get up, and she did not acknowledge him when he woke up.

He waited for a moment to see if she would talk first, then, after realizing that she wouldn’t even look at him, he cleared his throat.

“Rey,” he began. When she didn’t look up, he tried again. “Rey?”

Her attention was on him.

“I should have told you,” he relented. “I didn’t think it would be a problem…”

Sighing, she took a sip of her tea. “Finn,” she said, “if anyone had found out, you know how bad it could have been for you, right? If you told me, I could have made sure anything linking you to Dameron’s escape was destroyed.”

“No one suspected me of anything,” he explained. “Not even question me. I wasn’t on the records of being anywhere near him when he was imprisoned. By the time I showed my face again the day, Dameron was already out the hangar. It gave me an alibi because I was already in the crowd watching it happen.”

“You still could have told me,” she growled.

“I know,” he apologized again. He didn’t know what more he could say. The thought had occurred to him towards the beginning of their relationship, but…

…Well, he hadn’t trusted the Supreme Leader yet. Not when he wasn’t sure how long their affair would last. Now, he realized he could have brought it up later, but he always worried what Rey would think if she knew he betrayed the First Order by releasing a prisoner. Guess he just found out.

“Is there anything else you’re hiding from me?” she demanded.

“No,” he said honestly. “That was the only thing.”

She stared at him as if she were peering into his soul, but Finn knew that she wouldn't read his mind; it was something she only did out of desperation and vowed she would never use it against people that she cared about. Her gaze, however, was unsettling. She didn’t need to read his mind to know what he was thinking sometimes.

“I’ll forgive you,” she finally agreed. “I think I understand, but it hurt to think you didn’t trust me, after all we've been through.”

"What about you?" he turned the questioning on her.

Rey looked incredulous. "Me?"

It was finally his chance to ask his own questions. "What are we really doing on Jakku? I know you, Rey. The Force was never that important to you."

Her eyes shifted, like she wanted to avoid talking about it. She used to give him the same expression whenever he brought up Snoke or Kylo.

"No more secrets," he pleaded.

That seemed to cause her to rethink her silence. With a sigh, she looked away from him.

"I'm worried my grasp on power is slipping," she confessed. "With Hux continually stepping in to stop my plans, I don't feel like I'm letting the Order reach its potential. And with Hux at the helm, I'm afraid we'll be in constant warfare. The longer the fighting goes, the more support we lose and I don't think the Resistance will ever die, not truly. The Empire destroyed many Rebel factions and they kept reforming and fighting for decades. And I can't just get rid of Hux without facing those repercussions. Not everyone in the Order supports their Supreme Leader, not when Hux tries to create the image that I'm weak."

Finn's felt his own anger soften when he saw her doubt. "So you aligning with the Resistance is...?"

"I'm not sure if the First Order will survive Hux and I, but if everything goes wrong, I want to make sure you and I get out alive. If I can stay in the good graces with the Resistance, they might make us a deal and I might get to carry out some of my plans anyway."

"And if we get rid of Hux without tearing the Order apart?" This is what Finn wanted to know. Now that he understood Rey's intentions, he felt like he was betraying his soldiers. He needed to be sure this was the right thing to do.

She shrugged. "I suppose the best case scenario is you and I continuing running things and we crush the Resistance."

This concerned Finn. "And do you think any of this is going to work?"

Her response was honest. "I don't know the answer to that, but I do know that a good strategist is someone that can keep adjusting their plans as things change. I can't make promises anymore that I won't kill Hux, but I can promise you that I will do whatever I can to make sure we live through this."

Then she asked another question: "Do you trust me?"

He wasn't sure how to respond. Did he have confidence that her plans would work when she was playing teams? No, not at all. But did he trust her? Yes.

"I'm not sure we'll get the life you want for us after this is over," he told her. "But I trust you. I trust you when you say you might be able to make a deal with the Resistance in our favor."

He waited for her to lean in for a kiss before he made any movement. It was short and chaste, but it still meant the world to him. Yesterday, he realized he had always loved her, and then spent a night worried he might have lost her. 

They would be all right, he told himself. He would make sure of it.

* * *

Even under his helmet, he could hear the anger in the voices behind the closed door of a training room. One belonged to Phasma, he knew her steel-like voice anywhere. The other belonged to a man, but it was not distinct enough for him to figure out who.

Finn knew he shouldn’t linger here; it wouldn’t do for him to be caught eavesdropping, but the venom lacing Phasma’s voice was hard to ignore. Instead of sticking close he moved farther down the corridor to hide behind a corner. If anyone came out of the room and spotted him, he could say he was just doing his rounds. 

It was a couple more minutes before he saw Phasma leave the training room, acting normally. Nothing seemed off, but he didn’t see the other person leave the room and knew that was the only way out.

A low groan told him the other person was still inside.

Cardinal bled on the training room floor. Gaping, Finn ran to the man and noticed he had two gashes on his chest armor where blood was pooling. To the side of the room, a droid lay on the ground, broken wires flickering electricity from where a blaster bolt had hit it.

“Phasma did this?” He began to apply pressure against the red armor, noting how the blood almost blended with the color. “I’m going to call for help.”

Cardinal said nothing, his breath came in gasps.

“I don’t think she’ll let him live if he stays here,” came a feminine voice behind him. He turned around to see a woman with skin a similar tone to his own and bleached, cropped hair looking worse for wear, standing in the doorway. He tried to recall who she was, but he was certain he had never seen her before unless she was a stormtrooper. Why would she be out of her armor though?

“And you are?” he asked.

She grinned. “Vi,” she answered. “Resistance prisoner.”

Finn knitted his eyebrows together, confused. “We don’t have any Resistance prisoners.” Rey would have been handling the situation herself to make sure she solidified ties with Leia Organa. 

“Not any you know of,” she countered. “Cardinal has been taking _wonderful_ care of me.” She punctuated her sentence with sarcasm.

“So then, why are you here if you have the chance to escape?” Finn asked. He didn’t understand this woman’s actions. In her place, he would have already been long gone.

“Let’s just say I’m a good friend and I need him to help the Resistance out.”

Finn still wasn’t sure what she meant, but he agreed Cardinal needed to get out of there. They were wasting time as it is. He tried to get his arm under his old trainer, but worried that moving him would cause him to lose more blood quickly. Finn was at loss of what to do.

“I spotted a gurney around the corridor,” said Vi, heading back out the door. “Hold on a sec.”

It was only a minute before she pushed in a small hover gurney. “Help me get him in.”

“Don’t I have a say in this?” Cardinal asked, finally acting like he was aware of what was going on around him.

“Not unless you want to die,” warned Vi.

He glared at Finn. “Wouldn’t think the Consort-Major would allow me to leave with an escaped prisoner,” he commented. “Think that would make me a traitor, wouldn’t you?”

“Phasma’s up to something,” Finn countered. “And I don’t want to see a good man die.”

“Find my office,” Cardinal instructed. “I have records. A droid. They’ll tell you what you need to know. I’ll be back. One day. When Phasma and that Hux are gone and the First Order is restored to glory.”

Finn had to admit that Cardinal’s belief in the First Order was admirable, but probably unfounded. His time with Rey and learning the inner workings of the ranks made him realize they had made many mistakes and might not be deserving of the galaxy after all. But this also made him realize that Cardinal just gave him some important information:

Phasma was a traitor and Hux was doing something that aligned with her actions. Armitage Hux wouldn’t work with a traitor if it wasn’t for his own gain.

Now Finn just needed to connect the dots and answer why.

* * *

He and Rey stood in Cardinal’s abandoned office hours later, tutting at the mess he left it. 

She wrinkled her nose. “It smells like… cheap liquor in here.”

Placing the dead communications droid down on the abandoned desk, Finn began to shuffle around for anything useful that Cardinal had left behind. He found paper leaflets left in disarray, surprised the man would use such an archaic means of taking notes… It seemed so inefficient when things like datapads existed.

“Cardinal had been spotted leaving the cantina last night,” he explained. “Phasma had been there too.”

“Wonder if their fight started there?” wondered Rey.

Shrugging, Finn tried to recall everything he had learned about the night before. “This doesn’t seem like a drunken cantina brawl. Cardinal seems to know something about Phasma and Hux that we don’t and I think that Vi woman knows something too.”

“Hmm…” Rey began fiddling with a wire from the droid. “And he told you to check out his office and this droid?”

“That’s all he said.” 

She picked up the head portion of the droid and frowned. “Phasma shot it through the recording device. It can’t be used again… but I might be able to recover whatever it recorded.”

“If you can do that, I’ll see what I can find in all this.” Finn held up the papers.

Rey’s tinkering went on for hours as Finn sorted through Cardinal’s papers and began to read. A lot of it wasn’t very interesting – just personal observations of the youngest and newest cadets in the stormtrooper program.

Then, he got to a stack filed away in a cabinet under the desk. These papers were untitled, but when Finn found Cardinal’s scribbled writing at the top with _Phasma – Parnassos,_ he knew he had finally found what he was looking for.

“I think I might have found his notes,” he told Rey, and he read them out loud while she kept working.

They would pause whenever he got to a part that interested them, mostly things that regarded the First Order instead of Phasma’s upbringing on Parnassos, which neither of them had heard of. Rey specifically wasn’t interested in that part of the past so much because she knew from her own experiences what people would do to ensure their own survival.

No, what interested her was the situation surrounding Brendol Hux’s death and how similar his symptoms had been to the victims of the beetles on Parnassos.

“So no one thought it was suspicious that the medical records on Hux’s death mysteriously vanished?” Rey wondered out loud. She answered herself. “No, of course not. No one questions anything around here.”

Finn agreed with her there. For most in the First Order, this lack of curiosity and action would be seen as a victory. The cogs were turning exactly as desired. But to Finn, this was a failure and why so many problems were arising. It was why Armitage Hux was increasingly becoming hostile with Rey. Her predecessor might not have questioned his actions, but Rey did. If it was true that the younger Hux had schemed with Phasma and murdered his father, they needed to watch out for him. Solid evidence would be helpful here. If the Resistance had splicers retrieve the missing medical records, perhaps they would send them to Rey for further investigation. The only thing that made him wary of the idea was that he knew nothing in the galaxy was free; whatever information the Resistance took, they would keep for their own records. 

Anything to avenge the stormtroopers that died under Phasma’s own hand, he thought to himself. After reading that particular account of Cardinal’s, Finn almost lost the stomach to continue. A child. She killed a child, her own niece, and there were probably more of her victims the First Order would never get to identify.

“I think I could get this to play again,” Rey announced as she held up the recording device from the droid. “The blaster bolt fried the cords, but the device is still intact.”

“A vid would be better evidence than a bunch of hand-written notes,” observed Finn. “Anyone could forge these.”

Rey nodded, waving around the device in her hands excitedly. She didn’t keep it secret that she hated Hux, but if she had the right evidence, she could have what she needed to convict both Phasma _and_ him for Brendol Hux’s murder.

And wouldn’t it be wonderful if they could get rid of both their adversaries at the same time?

* * *

It was weeks before they had the evidence they needed. Those splicers that Vi described in her testimony had been real and Leia Organa was all too happy to hand over those records for the sake of getting rid of Captain Phasma.

But what they had wasn’t enough to convict Hux. For all that it pointed to him being more than likely compliant in his father’s murder, there was nothing to prove his involvement. This frustrated Rey, in particular, because she knew she could not just dispose of the man without facing the repercussions. There had to be a reason, and him plotting the murder of his father, a figure beloved by many of the older stormtroopers, would have been perfect.

Phasma was marched into the throne room, the Supreme Leader keeping her lightsaber close to her. Even with the Praetorian guards around her, she did not feel confident they would keep Phasma from attacking if she was given the opportunity. She now understood that Phasma would do anything to keep herself alive, even something stupid like attempting to kill the leader of the First Order.

Surprisingly, Phasma knelt to her before rising and looked her superior straight in the eye. “Supreme Leader,” she greeted coldly.

“You will not speak unless spoken to, Phasma.” 

Doing as she was told, Phasma waited for the Supreme Leader to begin.

“Do you know why you’re here, Captain?”

“I do not,” Phasma answered smoothly.

The Supreme Leader raised her chin, trying to look as commanding as possible. “You have been accused of murdering Brendol Hux,” she started. “The evidence against you is conclusive. Recovered medical records, testimonies… it was very sneaky of you to hide your origins and use a poison only found there.”

Phasma remained silent under her helmet. Rey almost wished that she could see what was lurking under it. If Phasma was anything like Rey, she was glaring daggers.

“Do you have anything to say for yourself?” the Supreme Leader asked. It would interest her to see what Phasma would do now that she was cornered. 

To her surprise, Phasma only said a short response. “I do not.” There was no pleading for another chance and no defending herself. She knew she had been caught and would accept that with dignity.

Rey stood up from the throne. “Then, Captain, for the murder of Brendol Hux, I sentence you to imprisonment. The punishment for murdering superior officers, as you know, is death. I might be able to keep this quiet and make a deal with you if you cooperate.”

Two of the red Pretorian Guards entered the room, both grabbing Phasma on her arms and ready to take her away at the Supreme Leader’s word. They waited, listening for the order.

They did not see Phasma remove a cylindrical bolt from the wrist of her armor until she elbowed one in the shoulder and lodged it in his throat.

Free to reach for her utility belt, she grabbed another small metal stick and tugged at it. A collapsible metal spear wasn’t something commonly found in the belt of a stormtrooper, but for Phasma, it fit her perfectly. She readied herself to fight the remaining guard, growling an unfamiliar cry like a cornered animal.

“Enough!” The Supreme Leader shouted and stamped her foot on the floor, listening to it echo.

Ignoring her, Phasma continued to focus on the other guard, pointing her spear at him while he aimed his glaive for her neck. They stared each other down as Rey lost her temper.

“Enough!”

The Supreme Leader held her hand out, as if reaching for the disgraced captain. Then, in her anger, she clenched her fingers without making them into a fist.

Phasma stopped in her tracks suddenly, gasping for breath before moving her hands up to her neck. Choking, she gulped and shook, her armor rattling quietly and she dropped her spear. If it wasn’t for the Force, she’d be on the ground by now.

“I could kill you right now, Phasma,” the Supreme Leader warned. “But I don’t think you’d be very happy with that.” She almost laughed. “You’d do almost anything to stay alive, wouldn’t you? Why is that?” she taunted. “What do you have to live for?”

Loosening her hold, Phasma shuddered and took a deep breath. Her body relaxed, but she gave the Supreme Leader no answer. Instead, she turned her back to her.

“I’ll go quietly,” she agreed.

The Praetorian guard approached her again and grabbed her by the arm, accompanied by another one of his companions that replaced their fallen. They would remove the body, making Rey briefly wondered what they did with their dead. She assumed they were elite soldiers picked out of the ranks, but she really wasn’t sure herself. It wasn’t often that one of them turned up dead and few people were real threats to the Supreme Leader. They could fight against lightsabers, but Rey could overpower anyone that didn’t have the Force. At times, she thought it seemed unnecessary to have the guards anymore since there were no more Jedi left and Master Skywalker made it clear that he wasn’t interested in going after her. Really, a squad of stormtroopers would suffice when she needed a guard. 

She watched as Phasma vanished from sight. Left alone with her thoughts, Rey wondered if Phasma would make a deal with them: a confession to accuse Hux to save her life. It seemed like something that Phasma would agree to. They couldn’t keep her around, but exile might be preferable to every party involved.

* * *

“So, we’re in agreement, then?”

The hot sun of Jakku beat down on the two women. Rey didn’t want to be out in it directly for long, reliving memories of sun burns and peeling skin. She wondered if General Organa knew the dangers of the desert.

Rey looked around the Resistance camp, noting the hot faces of young soldiers as they did their work. This time, Organa didn’t bring a whole entourage to keep watch over the Supreme Leader. Rey came alone, leaving Finn to take over her duties for the day. She doubted there would be much activity for him in that single day. Most of what she had been doing lately was look over suggestions of how Phasma should be dealt with and what kind of deal they could make with her to confess to Hux’s guilt in his father’s murder. So far, she had been compliant, a model prisoner. Obviously, she wanted to be on her best behavior, knowing she might get the best deal out of this situation if she did.

Finn, meanwhile, was left trying to redevelop the stormtrooper program left in shambles with Cardinal’s defection and Phasma’s treason. What surprised Rey was how he jumped at the chance to oversee it. No matter her popularity, they could not allow Phasma back to training the cadets. 

Recruitment of older individuals was going well enough, though they were not seeing nearly the numbers they had hoped for, and so, children were still being selected to become part of the future generation of soldiers. The TIE fighter corps was probably the most popular group that saw additional recruits from the effort. There were always people out there that wanted to learn to fly, Rey thought, though bitterly. She had once been one of those children that dreamed of becoming a pilot, playing make-believe with a handmade Rebel doll and an old helmet she found in the sand that might have belonged to a pilot that fought in the Battle of Jakku. Rey had not been alive at the time of the battle, but its remains had become her playground. 

Had she not have the Force, she wondered what her life might have been like if Kylo hadn’t plucked her up from the remains of the AT-AT she called home back then. Perhaps she would have sided with the Resistance from the start, taking the knowledge she gained from the flight simulator she cobbled together and applied it to the real world for once. Or maybe, if the First Order had ever paid attention to Jakku and those that lived there, she might have been recruited into their ranks.

In reality, she might not have been so different from Phasma. Both of them had been raised on harsh, cutthroat worlds but where Parnassos molded Phasma into a merciless creature that would harm her own family to keep herself alive, Jakku gave Rey a sense of compassion for the downtrodden, even when the dark side urged her to ignore her heart. She could understand the desperation that made Phasma go to extremes to stay alive, but Rey could not find it in her to become the same person that Phasma had become under the chrome armor.

But there might be someone on Jakku who could become another Phasma…

Rey visited Niima on her way in and found that almost nothing had changed since she left. The faces might be different, and the familiar ones weathered by time and sand, but it was the same situation over and over again. All the scavengers went out each morning to search for valuable scraps of metal and returned by the afternoon hoping they would eat that evening. Starvation made the scavengers edgy and angry. The children that weren’t old enough to understand why Unkar Plutt wouldn’t give them anything to feed their growling and pained stomachs were almost feral. Even those with parents to watch out for them grew up knowing nothing but starvation and anger.

The history books she paged through at night told her a couple of things, but one that she particularly took to heart. Hungry people became angry people and starving, angry people would eventually take up arms against those that ruled over them. It amazed Rey that Unkar Plutt was still alive, though, as she reminded herself, he hadn’t always been here. Plutt had only shown up to the desert a year or two before Rey had been dropped off by the parents she would never see again. There were times she wondered if she should demand that he tell her all he knew about them, but at her age and how long she went without them, Rey decided that it might be better that she never found out. Hunger wasn’t the only thing that had made her angry while she was stranded here. All she knew was that her parents had owned a transport far too expensive for anyone that lived on Jakku and that was enough for her.

If she wanted the First Order to bring order to the galaxy, Rey saw no better place than lawless Jakku, a place where both the First Order and its Supreme Leader rose from the wilds and the sands.

And here she was, trying to make that come true with the help of the people she would have never expected. The First Order was all talk, but the Resistance had the drive. She couldn’t bring the two entities together, obviously, but on a traitorous level of her own, Rey would work with the enemy to meet her own goals.

At least, she reminded herself, she wasn’t alone in this treason.

Turning her thoughts back to the present, she looked at General Organa. “What will we start with?” she asked. 

“Food aid,” answered Organa. “If you think you can get food dropped here without causing too much alarm.”

Rey raised her nose up at the statement. “I’m the Supreme Leader,” she affirmed. “My people will follow these orders. We have more than enough food being processed as it is.”

"Says the woman running a political regime full of child soldiers," Organa huffed. Rey pretended not to hear her. The First Order needed troops to fight their battles, especially if they had to resort to warfare to keep worlds in line. Even the Resistance should understand this; they were an army, after all. “I’m concerned about this being long-term,” Organa added.

“Long-term?” asked Rey, suddenly realizing what she meant. “You mean, you’re concerned about them being dependent on food drops?” When the general nodded, Rey laughed. “That’s all they’ve ever known. Food doesn’t grow here. If they aren’t dependent on old Unkar Plutt, they’ll be dependent on us.”

“We’ll have to figure out a way to create food here, then.”

The Supreme Leader felt her anger begin to boil in her veins, but she willed herself to stay collected. She reminded herself that she was compromising with her enemy for a reason. At least this way, she got one of her goals on the path to success. Once the Resistance learned how life was lived on Jakku, they would change their tune.

Rey snorted. “Unless you want to install expensive climate-controlled greenhouses or create an industry of scrap metal trade, we’re going to run into problems. Let’s see what the scavengers do when they don’t have to rely on Plutt for food first.”

She held her hand out, trying to make this agreement civil. Organa and her didn’t quite see eye to eye on everything, but they could agree that this was the best place for them to start their alliance at bringing order to the galaxy again.

Organa met her hand with hers and firmly grasped it. “I’m not sure if this is going to work, but we’ll revisit this again in a few months.”

This alliance will be an interesting one, Rey was sure of it.


	5. Chapter 5

Finn waited eagerly for Rey’s return, not because he wanted to hear about how her meeting with Leia Organa went, but because there were now more urgent matters to attend to that made everything more complicated. Anxiously, he paced around their apartment, knowing this would be the first place she would come back to. There would be no fanfare today. The Supreme Leader wanted to return with as little attention as possible.

The moment he heard the familiar _woosh_ of the doors, he stood up.

With a sigh, Rey entered the room and looked around, smiling widely at Finn, but staying silent until the doors shut behind her.

When it was safe to speak, she exclaimed, a relieved smile on her face, “It went right.” She took a deep breath. “It actually went right.”

He grinned brightly and felt absolutely terrible that he was about to ruin this for her.

Likely, she caught on to his discomfort through the Force because suddenly her face dropped. “What’s wrong?”

Grimacing, Finn hoped his reaction would help her brace herself for the news. “Phasma’s gone,” he told her. “Escaped.”

Silence. Rey stared at him, her mouth hung slightly open in disbelief. 

“What do you mean _escaped?”_

“I mean, she’s gone,” Finn exasperated. “The guard that takes in the meals went into her cell and found she was gone.”

“And have we investigated everything?” Rey began to run a list through her head. “Questioned all the guards, checked schedules? What about the camera feeds?”

He nodded. “Everything,” he swore. “We’ve checked everything.”

“And nothing?” She was almost pleading for anything that might be good enough as evidence or an answer to where Phasma had gone or how she got away.

“Well…” Finn trailed off for a moment, unsure of what exactly to say. “We think someone looped the vid feed to make it look like Phasma was still in there. We don’t know when she escaped, but the videos had us believe she was there the whole time.”

Rey pulled a chair out from the table in the dining room. She hunched over against the metal of the table, lost in thought.

“Should've killed her,” Rey mumbled. “I doubt she'll be anywhere under our occupation. I’ll tell the Resistance that she’s out of our control now; ask them to keep their eyes out for her. How many know about her disappearance?” she asked Finn.

Staring up at the ceiling while he thought, he counted. “You and me, plus two security droids and the ‘trooper that reported her missing. He’s been asked to keep this quiet.”

“Good,” Rey hummed. 

"There’s that dinner party tomorrow,” Finn reminded her. “Hux will be there.”

Groaning, she massaged her forehead. “Great. Just great.” She looked to her consort. “Think he’s in on all of this?”

“This is Hux we’re talking about. I _know_ he is.”

* * *

The next evening came too quickly for Finn and Rey. Instead of entertaining guests and playing their hands at deceit, both of them would have rather spent their time continuing the investigation into Phasma’s escape. After she left her cell, there was no evidence of where she went or how she got off the _Supremacy._ Finn ventured a guess that she shed her chrome armor for the usual white uniform of a stormtrooper to blend in. But a guess was a guess. It easily could have been that the cameras in the corridors had also been put into a loop long enough for her to hop onto a transport and vanish.

Finn thought about skipping out on the party, but with Hux’s presence, he didn’t want to leave Rey alone with him. She could handle herself, but neither of them were sure where the loyalties of all the attendees lay. The Supreme Leader had her core group of supporters now, but Hux had his way of snaking into the most solid of relationships. Rey suspected not everyone that bowed to her had her best interests at heart.

The party was a boring affair. Hosted on the top deck of the mega-class Star Destroyer, the attendees were only the highest ranking officers, the senior commanders that had served the First Order with intensity and precision. Occasionally, one brought a guest that came out of the ranks, a promising pupil or lower ranking captain that was considered the best and brightest of each group. It usually was obvious when the commanding officer had a more lewd reason of favoring a guest, a glance or a brush against a thigh. Some of them seemed to enjoy the attention, wanting to cement their own power and place in the ranks. they might have even loved their superior. However, Finn could tell when someone looked uncomfortable or even scared of the situation. He always made a mental note of the call-sign of these people, intending to check-in on them later. Misconduct might go unpunished by some officers, but it would not go unnoticed by the Consort-Major.

Hux did not bring anyone, as usual. The only person he truly favored was himself.

The dinner went without a hitch, but that was more on the behalf of the droids that brought the food and took empty plates away than anything the Supreme Leader and her consort had done. Really, all the pair did was sit at the head of the table, Rey at the very end with Finn to the first seat to her left, and watch the conversation flow around the room. When someone addressed either of them, the guests would go silent and listen carefully for their answers. There were no casual, friendly conversations here.

Captain Peavey was the first person that night to address them. 

“Supreme Leader,” he began as the room quieted down. “Is there any word on Captain Phasma or Captain Cardinal?”

Finn made a quick glance at Hux to see if there were any facial reaction, a look of interest even, but he found that the general kept a straight face.

He and Rey had practiced their stories for the two captains’ absences occurring at the same time. They were scouting for replacements, but Finn particularly was keen on making sure they were both more like Cardinal and had a fondness for the children while teaching them discipline. It would be an ideal time to start working on making the changes he envisioned for the program. Small changes had to be made or else it could prove to be catastrophic. The First Order had always preferred their strict regime of training each cadet to be their best and finding better jobs for those that were not cut out for the military or navy.

“Cardinal put in a request to retire from training the cadets due to his health. He will be placed in a job that will suit his needs when he returns.” Rey's voice, underneath her mask, was mechanical. During these parties, she did not eat and had the food returned to the apartment when the droids came to clean up. Finn knew how hard it was for her to watch other people eat in front of her when she couldn't.

“And Phasma?” Peavey pressed.

“She is out on a mission I personally sent her on. I imagine she will be gone for a while. Depending on her performance, I may ask her to switch to special assignments. Replacements are being searched for as we speak, long term and otherwise.”

The guests at the table nodded solemnly. Finn glanced again at Hux, hoping to see any kind of reaction. As usual, the general made no expression. He almost looked bored.

That seemed to be the answer that everyone was okay with hearing, however. As soon as Rey stopped talking, the guests went back to their dinners and chatted among themselves. Rey and Finn sat in silence again.

He reached under the table and placed his hand on her thigh, hoping that the gesture would remind her that she wasn’t alone in this. 

Rey looked down at his hand and slowly covered it with her own. The leather of her gloves was cold. Even without them, Rey’s hands always felt cold and Finn thought she deserved to be warm, out in the sunlight where she belonged. Surely a girl from the desert would miss sunlight?

Even if they couldn’t prove Hux’s guilt, they had at least gotten rid of Phasma. Slowly, the general’s hold over the First Order would fall apart and Finn and Rey wouldn’t have anything holding them back to bring the galaxy back to glory.

* * *

Rey left the party earlier than its planned end time, and honestly, Finn was grateful. Neither of them cared much for socializing with the people that usually attended them. It was really a who’s who of the First Order and anyone blessed to be in the presence of the Supreme Leader could be thought as such.

With Rey being the Supreme Leader, Finn had initially thought everyone would be eating out of her hand and throwing themselves at her with enthusiasm to follow her every order. Instead, the room felt cold with even those that gave Rey their loyalty remaining quiet and distant. Part of this was Rey’s lack of social charm, though he doubted that Snoke could work a room. What Snoke had was the commanding persona of an entity far more powerful than the Jedi. When they looked at Rey, they saw a girl who doubted herself, not the woman that was a force to be reckoned with. What they saw was not what Finn saw. 

No wonder she preferred to keep the mask on when she could. 

When they entered their quarters and Rey removed her mask, shaking her hair out as it loosely hung at her shoulders, she paused, looking around with a strange expression on her face. It almost looked like she had remembered she had forgotten something, but she couldn’t remember what.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

She frowned. “I don’t know.” She began to look around the main room. “Something feels… off. I don’t know how to explain it.”

Searching the room, she made her way through the dining area and to the sitting area. Looking back and forth, she would stop randomly and rummage around whatever furnishing she was close to. 

“Did you lose something?” Finn asked.

“No,” she said, simply. “Maybe I’m just being paranoid.” This last sentence was mumbled.

He wrapped his arms around her, kissing her neck. “It’s been a stressful couple of days,” he began. “We’re both a little on edge, I think.”

Smiling against him, she sighed. “Care to try to relax or has this all killed the mood?” Turning in his arms, she leaned forward to kiss him on the lips and pulled away, looking into his eyes and waiting for his response.

“Hmm…” His lips reached for hers again. "You feel up to it?" When she nodded, he couldn't help but smile with fondness for her. “Why don’t you go get ready for me? I just want to check to see if anyone sent updates on Phasma.”

“All right.” She grinned as she removed herself from his arms. The loss of her warmth made him feel a little disappointed, until he reminded himself what was about to happen. Moving into the bedroom, Rey added a little wiggle to her steps to make her hips move from side to side, enticing him. “If I fall asleep waiting on you, just wake me up. I won’t mind. Not for this.”

“I won’t keep you waiting,” he promised.

Now that Rey was out of sight, Finn sighed and sat down in one of the plush chairs of the sitting area and turned on his datapad. It would take him a few minutes to sort through his messages with as many as he had received in the last couple of hours – being the Supreme Leader’s consort and a ranking officer wasn’t all fun and games, as much as he wished it could be – but he would ignore anything that wasn’t strictly about Phasma. Rey was the one to receive communication from the Resistance, but there was an ongoing investigation of her disappearance being conducted by the First Order, even if it was kept out of public eye.

A sudden chill traveled through his spine. He paused, looking around the room, before he went back to his messages. 

He was going through his fifteenth when he felt it again, making the hair on his arms stand up and his skin break out in goosebumps. 

Something wasn’t right, he thought, but he wasn’t sure what. It felt like he needed to be somewhere… where? He looked around again as he sat his datapad down. Aimlessly, he strolled through the main room and tried to sort himself out.

In the corner of his eye, something scurried across the wall, but when he looked over, there was nothing there.

Finn felt uneasy, anxious, as he continued his search.

Then, his senses rumbled through him, like the current of electricity at a low frequency. There was something here that shouldn’t be here. Something dangerous. He walked towards his bedroom, letting his instinct take over. His heart pounded in his ears.

He saw it in the dim light, so small that it would be easy to miss unless you were aware it was there.

“Rey!”

Shooting up from bed, undressed and vulnerable, Rey summoned her lightsaber from the nightstand and ignited it, jumping up to stand. Now, she saw it too.

Sitting on the duvet was a small golden insect, a beetle, if Finn wasn’t mistaken. It leaped from the bed, jumping straight for Rey with its sharp proboscis aiming to strike. 

A flick of her wrist had the lightsaber slash into the air, hitting the beetle with a gentle and deadly force, reminding Finn of a bug zapper. With a brief hissing sound, the insect fell to the bed dead, leaving only a charred and shriveled body in its wake.

“It was here the whole time,” breathed Finn. “You were right. Something was wrong.”

“I tried to ignore the feeling,” admitted Rey. “Thought I was working myself up. If you hadn’t-" She put her hand up to her mouth, covering it, horrified.

“I felt it too,” he said. “Something wasn’t right, but then I saw-" He looked around the room for more beetles but found that there was nothing else. Even the feeling that made his chest feel tight was gone, though his heart still raced. 

Glimpsing at the dead beetle, he began to take note of its features, or what was left of it anyway. Golden body, large pincers. While he couldn’t be sure, the memory of Vi Moradi’s testimony sprung to mind, particularly the part about the Parnassos beetles that she had learned about from a figure in Phasma’s past.

“Is there something I can contain this in?” He went into the main room again and rummage around until he found a small glass and some silverware. Returning, he scrapped the beetle off the duvet and pushed it into the glass, careful not to touch it in fear that it could still be dangerous when dead. If it was what he thought it was, the beetle could still ooze toxin from its body and he didn’t want to take chances with it.

“I think this is one of the beetles that killed Brendol Hux,” he exclaimed.

Rey made a noise in her throat that was almost like a squeak as she pulled on a black robe. “Sithspit, I’m glad we got it before it got us!”

And it was a close call, Finn would admit. Too close for comfort and almost too convenient. 

“Can we send this to the Resistance for an analysis?” he asked her, shaking the glass.

“Can’t we have our scientists do that?” she replied.

He shook his head. “I have my suspicions on how it got in here,” he began, “and if I’m right, we won’t get far with our own research stations. The Parnassos beetle wasn’t even registered in our systems before, remember? Then there’s the matter of Brendol Hux’s death information vanishing…”

“Okay, okay,” Rey relented. “I get it. I’ll contact their comm tech and see what I can have done.”

Finn smiled. “Perfect.”

* * *

Within three days the Resistance had gotten back to them. They were correct: the beetle’s origins were Parnassos, and they had come close to meeting the same fate as Brendol Hux.

Finn still had a suspicion that Armitage Hux was the one behind the placement, but there was still no evidence that could prove it. Unless someone had a collection of venomous insects lying around, the beetle would have come from the forgotten world. Only a few souls had ever heard about Parnassos and even fewer had ever stepped foot on its radioactive landscape. 

But conveniently, there was one person out there that knew the world better than anyone else and had the resources to survive a journey to it. She also happened to vanish at the most opportune moment.

“Think it was Phasma?” Finn wondered out loud. He didn’t doubt it, though.

Rey almost laughed. “Who else would know about the beetle? I should have killed her that day in the throne room.”

“So if Phasma got the beetle, how would she get it here without being seen?” There were many explanations, but Finn wanted to talk it out with Rey. She had good judgement on things like this.

Fiddling with a stray thread from the bedding, Rey hummed. “Someone probably would have collected the specimen from her away from the fleet. A check point or a meeting place. There are a lot of places she could be hiding.”

“We can scour the records for the days leading up to the party,” Finn thought. “See who was away from the fleet and what they were supposed to be doing.”

A groan. “That’ll take _hours,_ and we know how easy it is to manipulate those records. Hux could have reported someone as going on a reconnaissance mission when they were actually going to meet Phasma. A droid easily could have been sent in the place of a human and we would never know where they went off to.”

“I’m not sure what else to do, unless there happens to be someone willing to confess to the crime.” With a huff, he threw himself onto the pillows and buried his face. 

“Hux knows that we know,” said Rey. “Yesterday when I met with him, he was talking about unveiling a nest of Resistance factions, but his energy was smug. The Force always reveals the truth, even if it can’t tell me what the truth it. He almost murdered the Supreme Leader, and it made him so gleeful that we can’t prove his guilt.”

“So he is guilty?” Finn asked for clarification.

She nodded. “I know it.”

“Is there a way we could… I dunno… _reverse engineer_ the crime?”

It took Rey a moment to think the concept through. Finn already knew how tricky it would be to pull it off, but if they could get any evidence out of Hux or anyone else involved, it would be a good start.

“Maybe,” she said. “I think a droid delivered the beetle here.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, it wouldn’t have been suspicious if one of our cleaning droids came in here. One of them would have slipped by us or come in when we weren’t in and dropped it off.”

“So there’s where I should start today: the droids. Check them for any malfunctions and maybe their data if their logs haven’t been wiped.”

He crawled out of bed, kissing Rey quickly on the cheek, before he went to the closet to get dressed. Today, he decided, he should take a leaf out of the Supreme Leader’s book and wear a mask. The last thing he needed was for someone to glance at his face and figure out he was up to something, lest that person report it to Hux.

“I’ll update you the moment I find any possible leads,” he called out to Rey as he began to strap on the white stormtrooper armor for his legs.

Rey laughed. “Can you time it for twelve-hundred hours?” she asked. “I’d do anything to get out of an appointment with Peavey. He’s such a bore.”

“He’s an old Imperial, Rey, give him a break.” The older generation in the First Order expected different results and protocol than those that had been raised in the First Order from the start. Many of them were past their prime, the youngest being those that had joined the Empire just as it was about to fall. Often, they clashed with commanding officers like Hux and everyone knew that Hux might have had more contempt for them than he had for the Supreme Leader.

“I’ll see what I can do, darling,” Finn cooed as he left the room.

* * *

Rey did not have to meet Peavey that day.

Instead, she witnessed a massacre.

Towards the middle of her day, the Supreme Leader sat on her throne while scrolling her latest updates and messages. Disappointed that Finn had not sent her anything about how his investigation was going, she debated going back up to the apartment to eat alone.

That is, until she heard screaming outside.

Her stomach churned as she looked for her guards and nodded to them to give them permission to look outside. 

When they opened the doors, there was nothing there but eerie silence. Even for the top deck of the _Supremacy,_ this was unusual. Rey often heard the footsteps of soldiers and officers click through the corridors, maybe even some hushed conversations and laughter echoing against the walls. It was almost like all the life in the Star Destroyer had been snuffed out for a moment that felt like an eternity.

Then the blasters fired.

Had she been anyone else, Rey probably would have ducked for cover and tried to hide away out of fear, hoping to be spared by whoever was doing the shooting. But Rey wasn’t the Supreme Leader for nothing. The moment she felt a change in the air around her, the Force warning her that something wasn’t right, she was ready for whatever was beyond the door. 

The crossguarded lightsaber ignited, crackling to warn everyone how dangerous she was with it. The blaster bolts whizzed towards her and with a little concentration, she met their projectile and made them ricocheted away from her, leaving smoking bolts holes in the walls of the throne room. 

The group of crimson stormtroopers didn’t have a chance to run away.

Shoulders hunched as she lowered the lightsaber to be level with her knees, Rey looked around the corridor for anymore soldiers. There was no one else there except the body of Captain Peavey. Rey frowned as she looked at the bolt holes in his clothes, knowing the skin underneath probably looked worse. 

Was this an assassination attempt with him being unlucky enough to be at the wrong place at the wrong time or…?

Additional muffled cries told her otherwise.

She ran for the emergency routes of the corridors to keep away from the turbolift. If anyone was coming back to make sure she was dead, she would be trapped between them and the walls of the lift. There were no more stormtroopers on the emergency route, but when she emerged into the commons, she paused for a moment to gape at the sight.

It was absolute bloodshed on the floor, carried out by the unfamiliar stormtroopers. The First Order had many kinds of soldiers, each fitted with gear suited for their tasks and the terrain they worked on, but she had never seen this red armor before.

Except for a few soldiers that fought back, Rey noticed the red stormtroopers were not going after everyone in the room. They were selecting a few officers to shoot at and she noted something they all had in common:

They were old members of the First Order, former Imperials, or those that had shown the Supreme Leader unwavering loyalty.

Already, she knew who was behind these attacks as she ran forward and pierced the lightsaber through the attackers. Snarling, she turned in different directions, looking for more turncoats and the person she knew must be leading them.

She cursed herself for trying to be a fair leader. Armitage Hux certainly didn’t care about protocol when his own power was on the line. She should have killed him years ago, the first time he tried to defy her by creating a new Starkiller.

Before she realized it, all the red stormtroopers lay in heaps on the floor. In her fury, she kept searching for more, certain another wave would be coming at any time. 

An officer stood up from the ground where he tripped and fell, likely expecting to die there. Gray in the hair and wrinkled in the face, he stood at attention. “Supreme Leader,” he said, trying to get her attention.

Breathing deeply, she paused in her search to look the man in the eyes. “Yes?”

“General Hux,” he gulped. “I think he’s the person you’re looking for.”

"I am,” she affirmed. “That traitor.”

“The last time I saw him, ma’am, it was a few minutes before the attack started. He was heading to the second deck.”

“Right,” she panted. “Right.”

It was that moment that she realized that she was not wearing her mask. For the first time, the face of the Supreme Leader was revealed to all. But as they stared upon her, the only thing she saw in their eyes was hope. They didn’t see the face of a girl, like Rey had always feared for years. No, their expressions of awe and gratitude told her they saw her as a lot more.

If it wasn’t for the dire situation they were in, Rey might have taken a moment to reflect on this. Instead, she propelled herself forward, charging straight for the turbolift to help her get to the next floor.

There were too many people in the Star Destroyer. Too much fear and anxiety. It made it impossible for her to seek out the person she was looking for in the Force.

Bodies littered the floor. Most were old officers, but occasionally she found a stormtrooper or a technician among them. Rey realized that these people might have been brave souls that made a stand against Hux and his followers, maybe they even fought back. She would make sure that every one of them would be remembered.

“Rey!”

Sliding to a stop, Rey skidded forward and caught herself. “Finn!”

He was wearing his stormtrooper armor, his armband that would indicated his rank missing from its spot. No doubt he discarded it the minute he realized what was happening – a smart move considering who the red ‘troopers had been after. In his hand was a heavy artillery rifle.

“I went back to the apartment, but you weren’t there…” Finn trailed off. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” she breathed. “Hux sent his guys after me, but they aren’t going to stop me. You?”

“Winded, but fine. I was still sorting through records when I heard the first blasts. But Force, I was so scared.”

“Find anything?” she asked curiously as she began to briskly walk again, searching each room they came across. Finn trotted behind her, watching her back.

“Doesn’t matter now,” he said. “Hux is the one behind these attacks. He’s not hiding it.”

“Why such an open execution, though?” Rey wondered. “Wouldn’t it had been easier to just get everyone into a room and surround them?”

“That what I thought too,” admitted Finn. “But then I realized that Hux might be hoping to use fear tactics to his advantage. If he succeeded in killing you, he could parade his power around and become the next Supreme Leader. Claim he was purging the First Order of tyranny.”

“But I actually _killed_ Kylo,” grunted Rey as she pushed a broken automatic door open. “I didn’t have a bunch of thugs do the work for me.”

Finn snorted. “I’d like to see Hux try to pick a fight with you.”

Rey laughed at the thought.

The corridors were empty and the rooms they came across were only filled with the frightened faces of those that tried to find cover from the enemy. Rey would order them to stay put until an announcement was made by either her or Finn. They couldn’t risk an impersonator hacking the comms to lure out remaining officers.

What would Hux’s next move be? Did he know she was still alive or was he operating over the assumption that she was dead?

No, Hux was smart enough to know a couple of stormtroopers couldn’t kill her.

After searching the second floor, they got to the corridor that led to the wing where the hangars were located. Rey paused in her walking to sense the world around her.

“Finn,” she commanded. “Don’t follow me.”

“What?” he cried. “Rey, wait!”

She ignored him as she ran forward, her boots clunking loudly against the floor. Finn would be safe here, she promised herself. If he went with her, she could ensure that.

The moment she found herself in Hangar A, she knew that Hux had planned for her survival during the first attempt.

A sea of red met her, their fists held high in the air as a salute to their general. Then, they lowered their arms, blasters drawn. 

Rey only had seconds to prepare herself, summoning all her strength in the Force. She trusted the dark side to bring her victory. Hux was her enemy, and she would strike him down. There was no mercy for traitors.

The storm of blaster bolts hit at her, stopping just before they hit her. She shook, trying to keep herself out of harm’s way and knew she needed to move before she suddenly lost her grip. Ducking to the floor, the sound of all the blasts hitting the wall behind her was a noise that would haunt her nightmares for the rest of her life.

“Hux,” she snarled. 

He stood at the door of an officer’s shuttle, watching the chaos on the hangar floor. Smirking, he turned around and went in, not paying the Supreme Leader any mind as she cut down the stormtroopers in her path and flung others away from her with the Force.

By the time she reached the shuttle, she was too late. It began to take off, followed by more transports. The remaining stormtroopers on the ground rushed to whatever remained, ready to follow their leaders to… wherever Hux was going. They certainly were not the First Order anymore.

Behind her, rushed in a group of stormtroopers in white armor led by Finn. They were too late to stop the initial attack, but Rey barked out orders for them to round up the remaining traitors still on the hangar floor.

“Hux?” Finn asked her when he got near.

“He got away,” Rey mumbled.

Finn looked disappointed, but he said nothing. For a few moments, the two were silent as they watched their troops fight the last of the red stormtroopers. Sometimes, Finn would draw his blaster and shoot back if any of them got too close.

“I need to call the Resistance,” Rey finally sighed. “We need them to know that Hux is no longer in our control. Not that he ever was.”

The First Order was no longer united. Now, there were two groups at odds with each other. Only one of them would end up victorious, Hux would ensure this.

Rey just had to make sure she was the one to survive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting to the final chapters of this fic! Will Finn and Rey keep control of the First Order now that Hux has betrayed them? Find out next week!


	6. Chapter 6

Four weeks.

He was finally returning home after a standard month on Geonosis. He thought Jakku was bad, but nothing could be worse than a rocky desert planet haunted by ghosts of the past. Not only did the troops have to worry about their enemy, they also had to be on the lookout for stray insectoid-like droids. It was a testament to the world’s painful history and that the Empire had not been as great as they had been led to believe.

Hux’s numbers were dwindling, which was music to General Finn’s ears. Between the loyal half of the First Order and the Resistance, Hux’s faction was being picked off and sent fleeing to the next world they thought was safe for them. Without access to all the weapons of the First Order and the fleet itself, Hux was finding himself losing the war he was certain he would win. Even Phasma had rejoined him to rally the troops as a morale booster, but even she could not add to firepower.

Finn would admit that when Hux betrayed them, he thought the former General had something bigger up his sleeve. Now, in his opinion, Hux had just decided he wanted to hold the power for his own, even if he was not strong enough himself to control the First Order. His gambit had been that the troops loyal to him would be enough to dispose of Rey once Phasma failed. Yet Rey had proven over and over that she wasn’t just a typical woman. The Force was strong with her.

He missed sleeping next to Rey during the last four weeks. Sleeping in a cramped bunk on a shuttle could not come close to comparison to sleeping next to her in a warm, soft bed. He hadn’t wanted to leave her for so long, but duty called and he didn’t want her going out to battle right now.

He wondered how much she had changed over the month…

The moment he got off the turbolift and entered the top deck of the Supremacy, his stride became longer, prouder. Waiting at the doors of the throne room, the guards regarded him and nodded before moving away and allowing the doors to separate.

Unable to take his eyes off of her the moment he stepped foot inside the room, he waited until she dismissed her guards before he drew closer. He couldn’t help the grin on his face as he leaned forward to kiss her and to see her meet him halfway.

“I missed you,” he sighed.

Her smirk was mischievous. “Not as much as I missed you,” she challenged.

Almost immediately, he looked downward between them. “Has everything been okay?” This had been on his mind nearly every moment he had to himself since she told him the news.

She smiled brightly. “I just went to a check-up. The droid thought everything looked good so far.”

That came as a relief to him, but he was curious. “Did it say it was a-?”

“I didn’t ask,” Rey replied quietly and sadly. “It’s… I’d rather not know until we know for sure…” She didn’t finish her sentence, but Finn understood her sentiments.

This wasn’t their first attempt since they lost their son… had it really been almost two years ago? The first time they tried again ended quickly and Rey finally sought out a doctor to help her. The surgery revealed that Rey’s problem was internal. The painful menstrual cycles, the pain when it wasn’t her time of the month… everything was connected to things growing inside her that weren’t supposed to be there. The surgeons tried to clean out her organs and give her another chance to try having a child of her own. In the months since, she celebrated less pain and gained the confidence to try conceiving one more time.

They hoped this time they would succeed. If not… well, they had brought up adoption the last time. It didn’t matter if it was theirs biologically, they would love any child they raised.

All they needed to do now was make sure the galaxy was safe for them to grow up in.

“Hux’s numbers are dwindling,” he reported, deciding he should tell her this part now. There were more important, happier things to talk about over dinner. “He’s not as strong as he thought he was. Some of his own have turned on him and gone independent. I'm deploying Captain Canady to Quell to deal with this group.” Finn just hoped his oldest commanding officer would continue to hold the respect of the younger troops. It was known that Canady thought Hux as arrogant and he didn't exactly hide his contempt for the younger generation in the First Order. Finn believed the captain was only following his orders out of principle to respect those in a higher position.

Rey pulled him close again. “This is going on far too long. As soon as we can put a stop to Hux, we can focus on what really matters again.”

Putting the galaxy back to order, that’s what she meant. With the help of Senator Organa, they were rethinking what needed to be done to bring back stability. They were currently in debates over if the galaxy needed to make another intergalactic government or if it was time to let worlds keep their individual sovereignty. After all the attempts to make a lasting and effective senate, Rey argued that there was a history of too much corruption and too little compromise. Organa understood her viewpoint, but disagreed about having no form of intergalactic governance.

“Bad things happen when there’s nothing holding everyone together,” she argued. “A senate created ties to put pressure on everyone to behave and acknowledge their neighbor’s independence.”

Finn had been there for this holo chat and he didn’t agree here. The senate allowed slavery to persist and the New Republic had left some worlds to suffer because they weren’t thought of as important to anyone but the people that lived there. It was a touchy subject for Rey, particularly, because while Jakku was seeing some improvements now that the scavengers weren’t starving, she knew no one would have cared without her interest. He saw her grind her teeth in an attempt to keep her temper from controlling her.

If this wasn’t proving Rey’s worth as Supreme Leader, then Finn would have no hope for the galaxy’s future.

He kissed her again, placing his hand up against her waist. When they broke apart, he grinned. “Are you showing?”

Rolling her eyes, Rey pushed him back. “Hardly.”

“Could have fooled me.”

She laughed. “You’ll see later, I promise. Not much has changed yet.” Then she winked, or at least tried to. Rey’s version of winking was scrunching one eye up.

Her promise made him excited. It had been a long time since he had seen Rey this happy.

* * *

“How have things been on your end?” Finn asked, draping his arm lovingly over Rey’s midsection. He could feel a small swell in her lower abdomen, but she was right to say that it was hardly a change. Finn probably knew her body second best to herself; no one else would notice that there were signs of the tiny life growing inside her.

She hummed. “Is this the time?”

“Is there ever a good time?”

“I suppose not.” It took her a moment to get her thoughts together. “Jakku’s food aid program is doing well and we’re getting a survey done on Hayes Minor.”

Finn tried to remember the name. “The mining colony?”

Rey shook her head. “Not much of a colony anymore. There’s so few people left from our initial invasion.”

It was one of many worlds that had suffered this fate. Hux had overseen that world’s demise himself. The colony was known for mining ore, something the First Order wanted, but it had been agreed on that droids would have been better workers for the job. Besides, the locals were not cooperating…

Continuing, Rey frowned, “We drove out Hux’s troops from the mines where they were hiding out. A lot like Crait, actually, only colder. It didn’t take much.”

The images of Crait flashed in his mind, causing him to shudder. Even years later, Finn still did not like to remember the battle on ground so red that he couldn’t tell what was earth and what was blood…

“What now?” he asked.

“Not sure,” she responded. “I’d give the mines back to the humans, but we’re not sure how many are left or if they’d want to return…”

This has been the hardest part about working with the Resistance. Now that they were allies in trying to take down Hux, the Supreme Leader had to face the reality of the choices made in the past, even if they weren’t hers to make. Finn did his best to make sure he had all the information he could gather before being deployed to any world the First Order had a hold on.

“We’ll have to see if it’s a viable idea,” Finn agreed.

Rey was slated to meet with Organa again on Jakku at the end of the standard month, not just to talk about the state of their joined alliance, but also to talk about the future of the First Order and the Resistance. Finn hated to admit it, but one day, there would be a time where at least one of the groups would have to dissolve and she wanted to say the First Order would not be that group. Part of him would not be sad to see the First Order disband so he and Rey could live the rest of their lives peacefully, but another part of him secretly wanted them to be victorious. Perhaps they could be the start of a new, prosperous era, provided that the Resistance didn’t oppose this.

“Do you know your stance on your meeting with General Organa?” he asked, out of curiosity. “About what we plan for the Order?”

Silence set over them again for a few minutes. Rey traced spirals into the skin of Finn’s shoulder, lost in thought.

“I’m not sure yet,” she admitted. “I’ve been asking the Force this myself in my meditations each morning.”

“And the Force said?”

“Nothing, well, rather, it didn’t say as much as show me. Maybe.” It took her a moment to figure out how to put her thoughts into words. “I think the Force wants to rebalance, at least, I think that’s how it works. The galaxy is out of balance and it’s trying to right itself.”

This was the part where Finn had a hard time wrapping his head around the concept of the Force. He understood that it was alive somehow, and that it connected everything, but then there was all this talk of chosen ones, prophecies, and balance that he couldn’t get a grip on.

“Explain this to me, one more time,” he asked.

She took a deep breath. “There’s… different ideas on what balance is to the Force,” Rey began. “The Jedi thought balance meant eradicating darkness from the Force.”

“And the Sith?”

“They didn’t really think of balance much, at least, not that I know of. Most that did thought it meant an even distribution of light and dark. Snoke certainly did. He told me that light would rise to meet darkness and Kylo was that darkness.”

This confused Finn greatly. “But you killed Kylo.”

“And I’m not light.” To illustrate this, she snapped her fingers and a flicker of electricity jolted from her fingers. “So I’m not sure if Snoke was right either.”

“Then how do we apply this to the First Order and the Resistance?” asked Finn.

Another shrug. “Not sure. If the First Order is darkness, and the Resistance is light, they should be able to coexist, but we know that hasn’t been true. The only other alternative I can think of…” she trailed off uncomfortably.

“What?” This alarmed Finn.

Rey frowned. “The only thing I can think of is that both organizations dissolve.” Then, she went into detail. "The Resistance has too much intel on us now; we had to give that up to get them to help us, but now we can't retract on our alliance without putting ourselves in a bad spot. They really could win the war now."

Silence fell between them again. He wasn’t sure how to react or how he felt about the idea. The First Order had been around for over three decades and he couldn’t imagine a galaxy without it. What would the troops do? Where would they go? He wasn’t sure they were independent enough to live on their own, though he supposed that groups would stick together in the adapting phase. Yet the idea also appealed to him now that a baby was in the picture again. The first time, he hadn’t thought it through as well, but now with the problems that Hux caused, he didn’t want to raise his child in a place where war was constant.

“This is not going to be a popular choice, Rey,” he finally responded. “I’m not sure how this is going to work, but you’ve put more thought into this than I have. I want to trust you on this, but I'm not sure everyone is going to see things your way.” Announcing a temporary alliance with the Resistance hadn't been popular either, but the officers understood that sometimes a common enemy could bring people together, at least for a while. Many of them expected Rey to betray General Organa once Hux had been dealt with, a sneaky way to kill two mynocks with one stone. Obviously, they had never met Leia Organa. The woman would have sniffed out that plot already.

"Actually, Finn," she added, "I think I need your help for this. What Organa has proposed to me is... _big._ It'll change everything. There are things I think I need to discuss with you before I see her, so I can go in with questions of my own."

He shifted uncomfortably. Even though he frequently had to take up diplomatic duties to assist his partner, Finn still felt inadequate as a political leader. Rey continually reminded him that she had no upbringing that prepared her in the role either, but she learned to trust her instincts first before she started learning to play the game. If she could do it, so could he. Whatever this proposal was, it was important to Rey that she considered her options carefully and she trusted him to help her make the right choices.

He wasn't the one doing the negotiations so the least he could do was talk out everything with her.

"All right," he answered. "If you think I'll be much help to you."

Rey leaned forward and kissed him softly.

* * *

Staring out at the construction of the large greenhouses near Niima, Rey mused on her fortune to be part of Jakku's improvement and she wondered if this was to last. Change could create something new and wonderful, but she also knew how easy it was for that change to be resisted, only for people to go back to their old ways. It brought uncertainty with it, only for that uncertainty to cause fear. Fear made humans blind sometimes.

The greenhouses weren't an undertaking of the First Order or the New Republic though. No, the scavengers of Jakku, free from the insecurity that the scarceness of food had brought them, were the ones piecing together what they could find to create such structures. To someone born on worlds where greenhouses were common and inexpensive, the scavengers' work would look like shoddy patchwork. It didn't matter if they were aesthetically pleasing though, not as much as functionality was. They weren't promised continuous food rations forever, so a small group on Niima decided they wanted to avoid going back to the old ways. It might not work, but never wanting to be slaves to hunger again was motivational. If they could grow their own food, then maybe the tiny outpost could flourish. 

She wondered if anyone would try to control the food production the way Unkar Plutt controlled the food rations. It would be easy for someone wanting to grab some power for themselves to look to the greenhouses. All it took was a group of thugs to install fear into the scavengers again to bring the old ways back.

Well, at least Plutt wouldn't be the one to try that. He vanished one night and nobody went looking for him. The greedy Croulate would not be missed. Rey made sure of that.

She would never let on to how much she knew about this though. Appearances and all that.

Her meeting time with General Organa grew near, and Rey wandered the Resistance camp with a small guard of her own. The sudden appearance of stormtroopers in their white armor put many of Organa's soldiers ill at ease, but now that Rey wasn't hiding their alliance anymore, she thought it would be best to start looking the part of the Supreme Leader to them too. Respect and fear could also go hand-in-hand.

And to gain respect of the Resistance, Rey tried to make a point of being somewhat friendly to the soldiers that crossed her path. Once, she would have killed them the moment she saw them and many of them knew this. Even if she didn't really care about the lowliest of personnel, reputations could be hard to repair and she needed people to at least tolerate her if her plans were going to ever work. Had she been older when she became Supreme Leader, Rey might have been smart enough to avoid all the bad choices she made, but inexperience meant mistakes and now she had to deal with them.

A struggling engineer caught enough of her attention to get her to stop for a moment. Curiously, the Supreme Leader watched a young woman lean into the hull of a transport, her figure so short that her legs dangled over the edge and didn't touch back on the ground. She grumbled with frustration.

Rey approached. "Do you need a hand?"

"Yeah, I could really use a FastTurn," the woman replied, not emerging from the hull. "Should be one in the kit on the ground. Can you hand me it?"

Casually, Rey reached into the orange case at her feet and pulled the requested tool out, placing it in the woman's open and waiting hand. "Thanks," she grunted as she immediately went back to work.

The Supreme Leader waited another minute for the woman to crawl out. She touched back down on the ground, running her hand across her forehead to wipe the sweat off and push stray strands of her black hair out of her face. 

As soon as she saw who helped her, the woman's face reflected shock, then, almost as quickly, her dark eyes flared with anger.

"Why are you helping me?" she demanded.

Rey shrugged. "Looked like you needed it."

"If I had known it was you, I wouldn't have asked." The woman was red in the face. "My sister is dead because of you."

Had Rey been a better person, she might have tried to reason with this woman, try to make her understand that in all likelihood, Rey hadn't personally killed this woman's sister. In recent years, the only executions she usually did were of high-profile Resistance members, everyone else died on the battlefield. She doubted the sister of an engineer would have been important enough to get that honor. But Rey was the Supreme Leader and everything her people had ever done was placed upon her shoulders. She would never deny and she would never ask for forgiveness.

"This is war, if you hadn't noticed," she replied. "Why are you even here? You obviously don't support this alliance."

If possible, the woman's face turned even redder as she tried to respond, but only manged to stutter. Content with this reaction, Rey began to walk away from the transport.

"Oh, excuse me, please! Supreme Leader!"

A nervous voice tried to get her attention. Rey turned around to see a golden-plated protocol droid approach almost skittishly. Resistance droids had the strangest personalities.

"General Organa is ready for you," he told her. "I will escort you to the tent."

She nodded and gestured for her troops to follow.

The droid looked over her shoulder, back to the woman that still stood by the transport. "Miss Rose," he called out, "are you well?"

"I'm fine 3PO," she insisted. 

If a droid could look concerned, this one certainly did. "Oh well, if you're sure... No one will be angry if you need to sit down for a bit. Not in this heat. My own wires are threatening to melt out here." Then, he turned back to Rey. "Yes, right this way, Supreme Leader."

* * *

With a pen in her hand, Rey stared solemnly at the paper in front of her. It wasn’t often that she signed anything with a pen and on a thick piece of paper. This meant that anything she signed would become official and binding.

Across the table from her, Leia Organa waited patiently. “You don’t have to sign it today,” she told her. “We can arrange this another time if you need to think it over-"

“No, no,” Rey interrupted. “It’s not that. It’s more… Well, I’m thinking more of what would be the best way to go about this.”

Organa nodded. “If you need a listening ear, I don’t mind.”

Rey hesitated, though it wasn’t because she didn’t trust the general. It had more to do with her being afraid the indecision would make her look weak. 

Nevertheless, she began, “I’m afraid that the immediate dissolve of the First Order would pose a problem, even if Hux and Phasma were no longer out there.”

It wasn’t that they were planning to resolve their respectful groups right that moment, but they intended to end things once Hux was truly out of the picture. The Resistance believed that they had decent leads on Phasma’s location that they had given to Rey with plans that they would work together to capture her.

“You mean, where everyone would go?” asked Organa.

Rey nodded. "That is our biggest concern." She discussed this with Finn in depth, knowing if there was one thing that he cared about than anything else, it was making sure that the troops were cared for properly and treated with respect. It might even be a trade-off of sorts to get her followers to continue supporting her once the deal was done. The announcement They had very specific concerns for the children in the stormtrooper program too. Rey had tried to convince Finn to come with her today, but he insisted he wasn't the right man for the job so she let him be.

“What would you suggest?” Organa inquired wisely.

Putting her hands neatly on the table, Rey explained, “I think we need to slowly deploy my men to new homes, make sure they settle in well enough to integrate with civilians. They’ve never known a life outside of the First Order. We have some volunteers from worlds that can be of help and might know of areas to place them. But we can’t just cut everyone loose at once. That would make too many problems.”

Thinking this over, Organa closed her eyes for a moment.

“I understand what you’re saying,” she finally said. “And I see your point. You know your men better than I do.”

"Finn and I also have concerns regarding what will happen to the children. We don't want them to be placed in homes where they won't have stability. They'll have enough trouble with the transition as it is." Rey had seen some of the homes of orphaned children on core worlds. Even the ones placed with families weren't necessarily better off. The last thing she wanted was to send cadets out of the stormtrooper program to people not prepared for the realities of the situation. Confusion often led to frustration, which turned to angry outbursts and other behavioral problems in children. Even those most experienced with child-rearing could find this too big of a challenge.

She retracted the paper away from Rey. “If you don’t mind,” she explained, “I think a little more detail needs to be put into the plan before you should sign.”

It surprised Rey at first to hear Organa say she wanted to edit the treaty, but she appreciated it all the same. She would have been nervous to sign anything with any glaring problems included.

“Then we’ll meet at a later date?” Rey pressed.

Organa stood up, handing the documents over to her communications technician, who Rey learned was called Connix and was the one she often contacted when she needed to get in touch with the Resistance.

“I’ll send regular correspondence to make sure you can put in your input on the edits. No need to take unnecessary trips here.” She smiled warmly at Rey. “I imagine that soon you won’t want to be traveling much. Congratulations is in order.” Then her facial expression turned dark. "Are you having an heir or a soldier? Or are you betting the New Republic won't punish a pregnant woman?"

Rey glanced down at her stomach, noting that her bump still wasn’t noticeable to her, but she knew the Force was strong in the Skywalker family and wondered if General Organa had inherited the same talents as her brother.

"Would it be so hard to believe that Finn and I just want a family?"

Organa looked puzzled before she found the manners to at least look sympathetic. "Of course I could," she apologized. “You’re… expecting a child, right?”

“Maybe congratulate me when I actually have it.” Rey said this in a whisper. A look of horror spread across the other woman’s face. “This isn’t my first attempt. Not the closest we’ve gotten either.”

“I’m sorry." Awkwardness began to cut into the conversation. The women tried to be as civil to each other as possible, for the sake of the alliance, but there were times when it was hard to. Former enemies didn't always make easy friends.

Shaking her head, Rey stopped her. “No one knew but my consort. We’ve had… difficulties. This will be my last attempt, no matter how it goes.” Her body was tired and as much as she liked the idea of carrying something that came from both her and Finn, the reality brought her to understand a child that was not theirs by blood and genes would be just as loved.

“Finn and I want to do what’s best so we can have a future with our child,” she explained. “Some people will accuse me of signing this treaty to sell out the First Order to save myself.”

“And there are those that want to see you fall along with them,” Leia confessed. “The fact that you are here tells me a lot.”

Rey stared at her, waiting for clarification.

“I’m glad you are the Supreme Leader and not my son.”

A lump formed in Rey’s throat. "What?"

Leia Organa's lower lip trembled as years of regret suddenly flooded her eyes. She looked down at the ring on her finger, two blue stones wrapped with wire, and touched it. 

"Kylo Ren was my son." She gulped as she confessed. "And besides my husband and brother, now you are the only one that knows." She stood up, her chair legs dragging against the sand and looked away from Rey. "He betrayed us. Luke, his father, me. Snoke had been watching him for years, but we never suspected... Well, I guess it doesn't matter."

Eyes wide, Rey fumbled to find something to say. "I... I didn't know." She briefly wondered if this would damper the relationship forged between them, only to realize that General Organa knew this already and still extended the offer of an alliance. 

"No, I didn't think you would have," Leia continued. "He changed his name because he wanted to erase his past. He hated his family's legacy."

"He believed he was destined to be the chosen one of the dark side," Rey told her. "He used to tell me that when he trained me. Kylo was a cruel master. I wish I was sorry I killed him, but I'm not."

Nodding, Leia looked like she aged a decade in a single moment. "No, there's nothing to apologize for," she agreed. "He did terrible things and might have been a more terrible Supreme Leader than Snoke."

 _"I've_ done terrible things," Rey affirmed. 

"And I can tell you regret many of your choices. What matters now is that you're here."

Outside, the sands of Jakku blew in waves with the wind. Rey stared at the other woman in silence, marveling over how her choice from years ago may have altered the destiny of the galaxy she lived in.

* * *

“So General Organa told me we have a chance at winning the New Republic's sympathies. It's just like we hoped.”

Surprised, Finn put his datapad down on the dining room table and asked, “Seriously? Wouldn’t we be hated by them?”

She shrugged as she took the seat next to him, reaching to uncover the plate of food in front of him to help herself. “I guess it’s not very secret that we’re trying to work with them. General Organa said we might even be welcome in politics after the war is over. We're not the ones that gave the order to destroy the Hosnian System.” Rey kept it to herself that at the time, had she been in power, she probably still would have given the order. Taking a bite of a sandwich, she continued with her mouth full. “They would want opinions on how to handle ex-stormtroopers and any of Hux’s sympathizers that are left.”

Finn watched her carefully. “And you would… want to do that?” 

Leaning back, Rey nibbled at the sandwich, lost in thought. “Not as an official politician,” she explained. “More like, being there in the background from time to time to offer help.” She didn’t enjoy being the leader of the First Order, why would she ever think she would enjoy being a politician for the New Republic with a lot more formalities and official procedures to follow?

“I guess that wouldn’t be so bad,” Finn responded. “Did you sign the treaty?”

“Didn’t have to. We talked and realized it needs more editing and additional details. Organa and I will keep in touch until it's ready.”

He hummed and nodded. “And did you discuss where we will go after the First Order dissolves?” 

She knew this had been on his mind since she told him what the treaty entailed, because this had constantly been on her own. General Organa had promised the Supreme Leader and her Consort would not be prosecuted for the same crimes as General Hux and many other commanding officers, but she warned Rey that the rest of her life might be restricted to a couple of worlds, constant check-ins, and guards tailing her everywhere. Not everyone in the New Republic trusted someone with the dark side to behave. 

There hadn’t been announcements yet on Rey’s plans to resettle the troops, though she wanted to hold off until Hux was cornered before she gave the orders.

“We’ll be placed somewhere by the New Republic’s choosing,” Rey finally answered Finn. “A home where we won’t be bothered so I can have the baby.” She rubbed at her stomach fondly, finally starting to allow herself to dream of that future. “Organa believes that after the New Republic puts whoever is left of Hux’s faction on trial that we will be given a loose leash, but we will probably have to announce whenever we go off-world and make regular check-ins. Trust issues and all that.”

“As long as it isn’t someplace like Jakku,” said Finn. “Too much sand. I will be happy anywhere else. Really, I can’t wait to live a quiet life.”

Rey frowned. “I’d scavenge for all three of us,” she promised, “if it meant no one would bother us. But I don’t think we’re going to have it very hard, regardless. We might have to get jobs someday, but we’re not going to have to worry about food or a roof over our heads at first, even if the lodgings are modest. We made a deal with them.”

Finn placed his hand gently on her stomach and leaned up against her. Lost in the quiet of their hearts, she reached for another sandwich.

* * *

That night, while Rey was sleeping, Finn quietly got out of bed, careful not to disturb her. He carried his datapad out and set himself up on the dining table with a holo projector.

He watched the chronometer across the room almost obsessively as he waited for the scheduled time to arrive. Then, as soon as the minute changed, he flipped a switch to turn the projector on and accepted an incoming transmission.

General Organa's face glowed dimly in the holo. "Good evening, Consort-General."

"Good evening." He glanced over his shoulder to make sure they weren't too loud.

She chuckled. "I take it the Supreme Leader has no idea we're talking."

"No," he confessed. "I'd rather do this without her. Sometimes, she likes to take control a little too much." It wasn't an insult to his partner's character, it was just that General Organa wanted to speak with him specifically and he wasn't sure if he could take the time he needed to think everything over if Rey was also talking. Too many distractions.

The Resistance leader smiled knowingly. "I understand. It's not always easy when both of you have your own ideas and want to lead with them." 

He recalled that she was married to the old war general, Han Solo... or at least she once was, according to the records. Finn hadn't heard anything about her husband in recent years. It was almost as if he wasn't in the picture anymore. The last he had heard, Solo made some bad deals with a few gangs and a bounty was placed on his head... It seemed like it was a common occurrence with this smuggler. How he lived this long, Finn could never guess how.

"What ever happened to Solo?" he decided to bring it up. At least Finn could update the records if they were outdated. 

Organa's face fell. It was hard to see from where the holo cut off the image, but it looked like she might have crossed her arms.

"Han isn't part of the Resistance," she answered. "Never was. We uh... hit a rough patch. He helped us with Starkiller and then after, he and his partner went back to work in the Outer Rim."

This information piqued Finn's interest. "He helped you with Starkiller?" It had been years since the weapon's destruction and he didn't think the Resistance would want to bring it up. It was a touchy subject for both sides. Many of the First Order didn't want to align with them because so many had died on the base. He could guess there were many in the Resistance that had similar sentiments.

She grinned. "He brought down your shields."

Finn's eyes widened with realization. "Wait, that was him?"

If Organa could look even more smug, she somehow did just that. "Had help from your own. Your traitor, Phasma? I assumed that's why she had been imprisoned?"

Rey never told the whole story about Phasma's escape, just that she was being held for treason while the Supreme Leader decided her fate. Obviously, the Resistance came to their own conclusion to why. It had been decided years ago in the initial investigation that Sol Revas was the traitor, but when Phasma declared him dead by her hands, Rey and her advisers decided not to pursue the investigation further. Big weapons were too easy of a target for the enemy and if the traitor was dead, there was no reason to keep looking unless they later uncovered more.

Finn decided to take a leaf out of Rey's book and lie. "Yes, that was it."

"Have you heard anymore about her lately?"

"Not any great leads. It sounds like she moves frequently." Sometimes she was spotted on one world, only for another report to be brought in the next day of her being somewhere else. If Phasma was being moved around like this, there was a good chance Hux was too.

This didn't make Organa too happy though. "We'll find her," she promised. 

Which brought Finn back to why they were talking in the first place. "I uh... have some concerns I wanted to bring to you about relocating the stormtroopers. I'm not sure how well Rey covered this with you."

Searching his face for... something - Finn wasn't sure what she'd be looking for - Organa responded, "A little. We probably will continue to discuss this matter over time while we're trying to amend the agreement."

"I was hoping you would hear me out," Finn requested. 

"You've always been a solider, haven't you?" Organa asked.

"It's the only life I've known."

That seemed to be the answer she was looking for. "Then this would be far more important to you than to her."

He wouldn't hide this meeting from Rey, but he might twist the story a little to make it harmless. There were no more secrets between them, but if Rey had known about this beforehand, she probably would have wanted to witness it. Finn already decided in the morning he would tell her he received an impromptu call and went ahead to take it. 

But Organa was right, this _was_ important to him. He may not enjoy diplomacy, but if it meant his men were given fair treatment after the war, he would set aside his discomfort for as long as it took.

Finn took a deep breath and began. "I'm not sure if you have other ideas already, but I was hoping we could start the relocation process with the children..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check back next week for the conclusion of this fic!


	7. Chapter 7

Bodies lay still on the ground.

Quietly, Finn sidestepped red and white armor, limbs and weapons splayed out around him. There were days when he wondered if anyone under the red helmets would be someone he recognized, but then the reminder that they betrayed him snapped him back into the reality of the situation. Those stormtroopers wouldn't hesitate to shoot him in the back, he shouldn't feel guilty that they were dead.

A lone bunker sat half-submerged in the swamp. Surrounded by Finn's troops and the Resistance, anyone that tried to escape would find the effort to be futile. 

He stared at the durasteel door. With no windows, light could not get into the bunker. There was an escape hatch that emerged a few meters away, but everyone anticipated its use and more troops were sent to secure it. No one would be coming out on their own terms.

Finn waited for Poe Dameron to call a transport before he made the decision to go in. He would not be going alone though.

"Are you ready, General?"

Despite always wanting to refer to the man next to him as Captain Cardinal, Finn shook away the urge to speak to him the way he used to as a cadet. It was hard to imagine that he would ever outrank him, even though that happened quicker than anyone expected. No, no longer wearing the crimson armor he was bestowed upon by Brendol Hux, the man next to him was hardly Cardinal. Until his defection, Finn had never seen his mentor's face under the helmet. Now, the black strands of hair, graying against golden skin, made it easy for Finn to think of this man as Archex, the name given to him at birth.

Finn had longed for a name of his own when he was a child, and here, his mentor had willingly discarded one given to him by someone that must have loved him. Until now.

He gripped his rifle and nodded. "At my command."

Archex stayed behind him as General Finn walked up to the guards stationed outside the door. Waving his hand, he gave the order for the troops to open it and lead the way inside.

Dark and damp, the interior of the bunker reminded him of a tomb.

"Come out," Archex barked.

A glint of silver caught in the light of the stormtroopers' glowrods. Alarmed, Finn aimed his blaster straight for the helmet of the former Captain Phasma.

She did nothing, surprisingly. Perhaps the fight in her had finally been subdued the moment she realized she was trapped. Like an animal in a cage, Phasma seemed to begrudgingly accept her defeat.

"It's over, Phasma." 

Those stormtroopers in red armor died for her as she hid herself away. It was a shame, really, that the lost their lives for her to keep going. She would never honor their sacrifices. The great Captain Phasma, a coward. Had anyone told Finn of her fate when he was a cadet, he would have laughed at the accusation. For years, everyone believed that she was a shining example of the greatness of the First Order.

Here she was, sitting alone ad defeated in a gloomy bunker, waiting for her enemies to decide what was in store for her. Had Rey not promised that Phasma would be delivered to the Resistance to be tried as a war criminal, Finn would have been happy to execute her himself. It was a rare moment that the death of someone would make him feel just a little better. So many of his fellow stormtroopers had suffered under her and he would love for her to experience just a fraction of all the pain she had caused.

He gave her a moment to act. Slowly, she stood up from the corner where she hid and raised her head with dignity.

Phasma was silent as Archex cuffed her and led her out of the bunker, paraded in front of the troops, and then loaded into the transport by Poe Dameron and his squad. They would take her to a prison where she would be placed under high security. Hopefully this time, she would stay there to rot.

Just as Finn was about to message Rey that one of their enemies was apprehended, he saw she had sent him a message of her own. Reading it, his eyes widened as he waved an officer over to take his orders.

"Prepare to deploy," he said. "The Supreme Leader needs us."

* * *

Finn was an absolute wreck when he spotted Rey on the battlefield.

Not that he thought she couldn’t take care of herself, she had the dark side for that. No, what made him nervous was the fact that she was seven months pregnant and starting to complain that the added weight of the baby was making her tired. He worried her fatigue would affect her here. There was no hiding her pregnancy at this point. Even under a long, draping, black wool coat, the large bump around her stomach was hard not to see.

The explosions from enemy bombs being dropped into the city streets weren't helping his nerves.

She wore a protective vest over her body, though he could tell it did not fit her properly and looked too loose in the shoulders. In her hands, the lightsaber that once belonged to her master crackled and flickered. There was fire in her eyes that almost matched.

Red stormtroopers surrounded her, blasters raised. Finn almost thought he wasn’t going to make it to her in time.

Raising her hands, an unseen force pushed the stormtroopers back, causing some of them falling over. With a smooth swipe of her arm, Rey cut down a group of them with her lightsaber, moving on to take on another groups. If any ‘trooper got too close to her, she would stop them in their tracks, freezing them in place with the Force.

Finn paused, in awe of her power. He had seen her use the Force before, but never like this. If he was a poet, he might write of her as a goddess of war, beautiful, deadly, but luckily, Finn did not have that talent. Rey would probably thank him for that.

With purpose, she moved forward on the battlefield, a crumbling city begging for salvation from a sea of red helmets. Hux was nearby; that was the only reason she was here. She promised Finn she would stay behind the lines otherwise.

No, he was here, somewhere. She must have sensed him somewhere in the city.

Rey led the troops forward, beckoning her to follow. Making sure he stayed close, Finn kept his blaster drawn. Anyone who came too close to the Supreme Leader would answer to him.

“He’s here, somewhere,” she whispered to Finn.

“I know,” he told her.

Reserved, Rey mumbled, “I just want to end this.”

“I know,” he repeated. "We got Phasma. He's not going to win. We're stronger than them."

Now, Phasma sat waiting for trial in the hands of the New Republic. Unsurprisingly, she was on her best behavior, probably hoping that she could use that to get a lighter sentence. Rey and Finn would have the last laugh. They knew very well that their allies had no intention of ever letting her see the light of day again. Perhaps captivity would suit Phasma well; she would not have to worry so much about survival if she was given meals every day. In some places, prisoners were treated better than free people. They hoped this wouldn't be the case and had half a mind to demand Phasma's imprisonment was as awful as possible.

Hux, however, would not be given the same treatment as Phasma, whatever that might be. Not after all he had done. The man that gave the order to fire Starkiller would rot.

Of course, a trial would happen, assuming Rey didn’t kill him first. She promised Organa that she would take him alive, but Finn knew the dark side could sometimes cause anger to get out of hand. If he fought back, she might have no choice.

They marched through the empty streets, noting the grittiness of the pavement and how the trash on the ground suggested that civilians abandoned this place only recently. Perhaps they saw the onslaught of red stormtroopers coming and had enough sense to run for it. Finn didn’t want to think of the alternative. He would find out soon enough, he was sure.

Rey stopped every once in a while to close her eyes and concentrate. Presumably, the Force was allowing her to sense who was around. Out of respect for the Supreme Leader, everyone stopped moving and remained silent. Finn did not know the Force and once might have thought of it as magical mumbo-jumbo, but Rey had shown him what a tool it could be in times like this. He wondered how difficult it was to sense a single person when thousands surrounded you.

“Here.” She pointed to an older building that didn’t look as modern as the rest of the surrounding block. It was an old, single-story building for this world’s federal Department of Transportation. “He’s here.”

Finn led the charge this time. He ordered a group to surround the building while he and Rey led a small number of troops to back them as they entered. Hux would likely keep a guard with him, though Finn wasn’t sure how big that guard would be in number. There weren’t a lot of his troops left and well, anyone could see who was the winning side now. It wasn’t a good image for anyone hoping to recruit more volunteers.

He waited for Rey to tell him she was ready. With a nod and a deep breath, she gripped her lightsaber close.

Two stormtrooper kicked in the doors for her. It didn’t take much force to topple them.

White armor swarmed the room, blasters drawn and ready to shoot at a moment’s notice. Rey walked through the path they made, striking down a single red ‘trooper with a flick of her wrist and a crackle of plasma.

“Hux,” she shouted, “I know you’re here!”

Another three red stormtroopers rushed into her line of sight. Stupidly, Finn thought. Rey tossed them to the side with the Force, not bothering with them. They were something her own troops could handle.

“Where is he?” she growled at them.

None of them answered her.

Storming away, Finn had to extend his stride to keep up with her. She looked up and down the corridors of the building until she came to a room towards the middle. Stopping, she turned to the door with a glare.

“Here?” Finn asked.

She nodded. “Yeah. I don’t trust this entirely, but he’s trapped in there.”

Still, Finn wanted to make sure he stuck close to her. “Let me go in first.” It felt like he was almost begging her.

There was weariness in her eyes, but she moved to the side to respect his wishes.

Holding his rifle close again, Finn kicked open the door and entered, ready to shoot at a moment’s notice. But as he looked around, he found nothing at first, just an old office with upturned furniture.

Neither of them said anything, but Finn waited to see what Rey would do next.

Worrying her lower lip, Rey lowered her lightsaber as she crept carefully towards the upturned desk in the corner. Eyes widening, she reached her hand out and flexed her fingers, like she was grabbing an invisible object.

Sliding from behind the desk on his knees, General Hux grunted as he was pulled forward by the Force and forced to stand by Rey. He had no control over his body. Something clattered to the floor and Finn looked down to see a detonator remote on the ground. Leaping forward he checked to see if it had been set off.

To his relief, Hux hadn’t been able to press the button in time.

Staring down at the detonator for a brief moment before she turned her attention back to the traitor squirming in her grip, Rey squeezed her hand. “Coward,” she hissed. 

Hux couldn’t speak. Rey’s grip on him restricted his ability to breathe. Sputtering, he only shook to try to break away from her. She smiled at his pain.

Finn let her have her moment before he cleared his throat. “Rey,” he said. “We’re taking him to the Republic.” It was just a reminder to her.

Huffing, she loosened her grip without letting Hux go. “So what, you were going to… blow up everyone in here, yourself included?” 

Actually, that _did_ seem to be Hux’s plan, but Finn knew better than to say anything right now. It wasn’t the time for him to be joking with her. What it told him was that General Hux, knowing he was finally cornered, was willing to take anyone he could down with him. He wouldn’t be victorious, but at least he wouldn’t die without destroying his enemies. 

They had to abide by certain treatment for Hux to honor their deal with the New Republic, but Finn wasn’t exactly going to tell the guards to be nice to him. 

Keeping his blaster aimed at Hux’s head, Finn followed behind as Rey led Armitage Hux to judgement. The path they made back to their transport to take him back to the nearest Star Destroy, the _Destructor,_ was a long one, purposely made so because Rey wanted everyone to see the fallen general. Some of the red stormtroopers that were still running around tried to stop them, but the pair took care of them quickly. Many of them even took a glance at the prisoner and knew defeat when they saw it, smartly surrendering. 

“Call the New Republic,” the Supreme Leader announced to the pilot of the shuttle. She grinned. “Tell them we have their man.”

* * *

For the first time in decades, the HoloNet projected a live recording of the trial of a war criminal.

News of Hux’s capture left the remainder of his faction in disarray. Without the leadership of him and Phasma, the troops didn’t know where to go or what to do. Many of them left the main group, breaking off into small circles, and looked for places to settle quietly. Not all of them were behaving though, and those were the ones where Finn and the New Republic had to send soldiers after.

In the meantime, without an official enemy to fight, the First Order’s new priority was to resettle everyone in the ranks. The New Republic agreed to try to keep squads together to allow them to adapt to a new life together. Many of the troops did well in this task, but others were struggling. Leia Organa, senator again, agreed to form better support for them before they were allowed to fend for themselves.

This left Rey the chance to rest. It wouldn’t be long now before the baby arrived, though the expecting parents still kept themselves occupied. Finn wanted to make sure all of his men were accounted for and taken care of and Rey needed to make sure the final touches on the treaty were right before she signed it.

“He’ll be given the death penalty, won’t he?” 

Senator Organa looked away from the projection of the trial, turning to Rey. “Is that what you would have done?” she asked.

Rey nodded. “It is the way of the First Order and the dark side.” She caressed her stomach. “He tried to kill me and Finn.”

“That is not the way of the New Republic,” Organa explained. “We want him to suffer for his crimes alive.”

“So a prisoner for life, then?” Rey asked. “Aren’t you worried someone might want to break him out later?”

“He will be in our most guarded facility.” Organa seemed unworried about this. 

Saying nothing, Rey decided it was best to drop the issue. Besides, once she signed the papers in front of her, she would renounce the title of Supreme Leader. Soon, she would only be known as Rey, with no other name. She had never found a last name. Maybe she and Finn could make one up for themselves.

“How have you been feeling?” the older woman finally changed the subject.

“Tired, mainly,” Rey answered. It was true that she had become very stationary lately, the added weight of the baby made her back ache and doing a lot of normal activities had become uncomfortable. “She’ll be here soon though.”

Senator Organa smiled. “A girl?”

Rey nodded. “I finally allowed myself to see her last week. She’s strong. Thriving.”

“Have you told Finn?”

“Not yet.” A grin spread on her face. “At this point, I want to surprise him.”

They had moved off Star Destroyers and into a home on Corulag that was designated by the New Republic. They wanted the Supreme Leader and her consort to stay watched in a Core World where they would be better guarded. In a couple of years, Organa had promised, staying on good behavior would probably get them a looser leash and they could move somewhere else if they wanted. She had a feeling that the Republic would react positively to a young family and forget after a while that Rey was once the dreaded Supreme Leader. Memory, she had said, was often fleeting.

Rey went over the last page of the treaty, finding that the terms of it were far more agreeable than the first draft she had been presented with. What she was looking for specifically in terms of her family and the stormtroopers, had been there. She and Finn could raise their child in peace and the stormtroopers would not be left to figure out their new lives in the galaxy alone.

“How soon can we call an official summit?” she asked.

Organa studied her for a moment. “You wish to sign?”

“I wish to get on with my life,” said Rey. Not only was she tired of pregnancy, she was tired of war. A quiet life with Finn was all she wanted now.

“I could have witnesses gather here next week,” the senator promised. “Is that too long?”

Rey placed a hand on her stomach. “I think that will be fine. Two more weeks might be pushing it.”

Organa nodded. “I’ll make sure they understand the tight deadline. They’ll be here and when this is done, I’ll make sure I do all my work so you can have your baby without worrying about everything else.” Then, she looked at Rey pointedly. "You understand there are people on your side the Republic wants you to turn over?"

It wasn't surprising and she expected that was going to be part of the agreement. The New Republic - or whatever they would eventually call themselves later - was sparing Rey and Finn a life of imprisonment. Nothing was given to anyone for free. She already thought about who would be asked for and had a list of probable officers. Men who committed war crimes, though Rey hardly saw some of their actions as that, scientists and engineers that worked on Starkiller. 

Her daughter moved, nudging the edges of Rey's womb, almost to remind her what was at stake. Even if those officers had her favor, Rey couldn't risk her family's future for theirs. 

"I know," she answered. "It will be done."

* * *

"We're making the right choice, right?"

Rey lounged with her head against Finn's chest as he placed his hand, warm and secure, along her stomach and felt their child kicking. He hummed, as if in thought.

"I think so," he said. "Are you having second thoughts?"

She had been thinking about this since she returned. Adamant not to stay on a Star Destroyer for the remainder of her pregnancy, she moved herself and Finn to a secure base that was pretty vacant and close to a good on-world medical facility. Despite her confidence that this pregnancy would go well and how she couldn't hide it after she appeared in front of her troops to take Hux, she still would rather avoid too much attention. It was hard to think someone was taking you seriously when all they did was stare at your stomach.

It wasn't that she was having second thoughts so much as she was wondering what would happen if she decided to say no to the New Republic in the end. Well, aside the war part. She knew when she was handed the pen that day she stood in front of all the representatives and witnesses, she would sign her name on the treaty. It was just that a part of her wondered if she could have been more if she had crushed Hux before he became a problem and created a new Empire in her name.

Then, she realized she was keeping Finn waiting for her answer.

"I'm not," she told him. "Unless you think the stormtrooper relocation plan isn't agreeable...?" That was the only thing that Finn really had concerns about along with the safe destruction of the First Order's weapons stock. If he wasn't satisfied with the plan, she would back out of the plan for him until something better was offered.

He shook his head. "No, I think it'll be fine... or as fine as it could be. Organa said she'd stay in touch with us during the program's progress, right?"

"Right."

"Then I want to believe everything's going to be okay."

They were quiet for a moment as they felt the baby kick again.

"It's a girl, isn't it?" Finn asked.

Rey paused, looking up at her partner's face with disbelief. "How d'you-?"

He shrugged. "Dunno, she just seems like a girl." Then, he realized something. "Wait, you _know?_ Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise," she confessed. 

They laughed at each other for a moment, then Finn looked serious again.

"I guess it's time to really talk about names, then," he hinted.

* * *

The announcement was unpopular.

Finn watched Rey's speech from the sidelines, hidden behind his stormtrooper armor and unmarked with rankings to tell anyone who he was. To an onlooker, he looked like just another stormtrooper.

Rey wanted him to stand by her when she spoke, but he wanted to see the reactions of the troops for himself. She wasn't giving the speech in person anyway. She opted to speak to a camera and not to the faces of those who put down their lives for her. They knew it was cowardly, but they also felt it was necessary. Besides, Finn wasn't sure Rey's heart could take their reactions face to face. She knew what they would think of her.

And she was right.

"My loyal supporters," she began, "after debating the First Order's place in the world and the reality of continuing to expand our empire, I have decided a settlement in joint consideration with the New Republic."

A few whispers carried through the runway until officers snarled at the troops assembled to quiet down.

"Now that Armitage Hux has fallen and the traitors that followed him have been rounded up, I have realized that our great organization's goals of creating security and prosperity within our bounds has been achieved as far as we can take it. In order for our goals to be met and continue to flourish, we must see a new era rise from the ashes of the old. We declared war on the New Republic in hopes that we could achieve this and we have fought bravely and diligently. However, the war effort is no longer in our best interests and our late alliance with the New Republic to defeat our traitors has created a situation which we must recognize and resolve. Should we continue to fight, we dishonor our allies and the service they have given us."

Rey practiced this speech many times with Finn, hoping that if she didn't imply the First Order's new vulnerability in the losses taken when Hux turned against them, she could calm the anger of some of the troops and officers that fought in her name.

"The sacrifice that so many of us have given for the glory of the First Order will not be forgotten. I have fought alongside you, I think of those that have fallen on the battlefield or at their posts, and I grieve for them just as their friends and comrades do. I am aware of all the feelings that serve me, the Supreme Leader, and telling you this is not easy.

"In agreement with the New Republic, the First Order is to dissolve."

Despite the orders of the officers, the troops ignored them. Some screamed at the screen while others stormed off. 

Soon, shouts of "traitor" almost drowned out Rey's voice.

As if anticipating this reaction, the Supreme Leader waited a few moments before continuing, her face emotionless as she tried to deliver further news.

"The New Republic has agreed to our terms to make sure all of our troops are treated fairly. They will aid us in the relocation process to find everyone a place to live and prosper."

The children of the cadet program were already going through this process. Not all the children had been moved to new homes or reunited with their birth families, but it was a start. Some of them were too old for traditional adoption, needing to live with people that could properly care for them and adapt to life outside the Order. When they were ready, the New Republic vowed to track down their biological families first, and if that did not find success, search for a family that would take them in.

"My brave soldiers, I will always remember your loyalty and your service. I encourage our relationship with the New Republic to flourish so that we can live our lives with ample opportunities." She paused, looking at the camera as if she were looking out to those watching the feed. "It has been an honor to serve you."

The camera kept on her face for a long moment before it cut to black.

More angry shouts erupted from the crowd. Try as they might, the officers were unable to to calm them. Some of them even joined in the shouting. Finn wondered if he would have to call in help to quell the audience.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a single stormtrooper remove their helmets, revealing the face of a young woman. She stared at her helmet for a long moment, contemplating it.

Then she dropped it to the ground.

Nearby another stormtrooper watched her and followed suit. Then another. Then another.

It wasn't all the stormtroopers - too many were too caught up in their anger at the moment - but a significant number shed their helmets and revealed the human faces underneath. Finn could tell by their faces that they marveled at the idea of a future outside the Order.

To him, that made this choice worthwhile.

* * *

Within the week, Rey and Leia signed the treaty along with a few others that made it all possible. No longer Supreme Leader, she could rest and wait for her new arrival. A few journalists had approached the home she and Finn had been set up in, but they were all turned away. For now, neither of them wanted to speak with reporters. Maybe in a couple of years they’d be willing to sit down and talk.

Finn decided that he wanted to stick close by and help where he could. Not all the stormtroopers were happy that the First Order suddenly vanished from the galaxy after all their years of service. He wanted to let them live a life where they weren’t soldiers, but he was right when he initially believed that their life of believing the First Order was superior would pose a problem for some. Finn had come across a plan to break Hux free by some of these loyalists.

He was asked to stay away from the battlefield by the Senate in case his presence there reminded anyone who he had been to the First Order and raised any suspicions that he and Rey might want to seize back their power. Instead, they agreed to allow him to stand in during committees and hearings to offer any insight he might have about how to handle the troops. Not wanting trouble, Finn agreed this was a good plan.

Moved back to Coruscant temporarily, the Senate found themselves busy trying to reestablish themselves. The New Republic’s first attempt had been rocky and unable to find a compromise by the time Starkiller struck, and memories of history made many skeptical that a third attempt would work either. Finn also had his doubts, finding that the people that served before had split back into two groups and already made it clear that they wanted to do everything their way. This would have to be corrected if it was going to work, but common ground could be found when discussing the cleanup effort that the war had ended in.

“I’m going to be taking a squad with me to this area,” Admiral Dameron pointed on a map. He and Finn, no longer enemies, grew friendlier with each other each time they met. “We’ve gotten word that there are a few troopers left with TIEs hanging around.”

Finn nodded. “We never accounted for all our starfighter fleet,” he said, “but I’m certain a lot have been lost that we’ll never be able to find.”

He stared at the map, noting the area of the Outer Rim was near Jakku and thought how everything seemed to revolve around the dusty junkyard. He would never understand the appeal of the world.

“We’ll keep in touch,” Poe promised. “I might need your insight. You know these guys better than anyone.”

Still, the fact that Finn couldn’t allow everyone their freedom hurt though he knew he couldn’t allow everyone to just roam where they pleased. Not all the stormtroopers were stable enough for that after a lifetime of fighting.

“How’s the little one?” Changing the subject, Poe grinned.

That was something that Finn was always happy to talk about. “She’s getting stronger each day. Little bundle of sunshine. Rey thinks she looks like me but I think she looks more like her mother.”

“Do you have a holo?”

Finn moved his datapad over and touched a few settings on the screen. “Here!” he exclaimed. Never once did he think he would be someone that jumped at the chance to show everyone images of his children.

Moving closer to look at it, Poe smiled thoughtfully. “I see both of you in her,” he observed. “How old is she now?”

“Just turned a month old.”

“And Rey’s doing well?”

Well, if he meant better than the first time, yes. The entire time they were stressing out over delivering a healthy baby, Rey almost forgot about how she would also need time to recover. Finn had to remind her that he could take care of things; really, he didn’t mind, he just wanted her to rest for a while. They took turns on baby watch, rotating every other night so that at least one of them would get to sleep, but then Finn would find her awake and reading reports when he returned to bed. He felt bad for being stern with her, but he was afraid that she was going to make herself sick.

Even though she said she hated being Supreme Leader, Rey just couldn't let go of all the years of work she put in. She hid her helmet away, worried that in the future, if the wrong person found it, there could be trouble for her and Finn. There may be a time when they wanted to put the past behind them, the memories of Supreme Leader Rey and her Consort, General Finn, left to the memory of history holos. Try as she might, Rey could not part with her lightsaber yet. She explained it to Finn as a security blanket, something she could protect her family with in times of trouble. He didn't have an issue with her keeping it around.

“She’s driving me crazy by refusing to just take some time to herself, but either than that, she’s fine.”

Poe made a heartily laugh. “Well, if she needs a break, you can always bring your girl with you next time. We’d all love to see her.” He straightened up and looked back at the map. “Children always make everything seem a little brighter.”

“Senator Organa is going to visit soon,” said Finn. “We’re shocked she wants to see us now that our arrangement is basically done.”

“She likes you guys, even if she doesn’t show it. We all do in the navy too. If you’re ever around base, we’d love to have you stop by.” Holding out his hand, Poe stood to leave. He had a mission to go on.

Grabbing it, Finn squeezed the hand and noted how it was nice to feel like he had finally made a real friend. “I know Rey would love that. We’d have to keep an eye on her or she’ll take apart an X-wing just to see how it works.”

“I’ll see you soon, Finn.” Poe patted him on the back. “If I’m close to Corulag, I’ll send you a message and see if I can stop in for a visit.”

“See you soon, Poe.”

* * *

The speeder dropped him off at the front door of the small home and he waited for the two guards stationed outside to let him through. Even if he had only been gone for the day to help out the New Republic, it felt good to be back. This place was starting to feel like home.

The modest house was fine for a small family like their own. Finn was making plans in his head about the future he wanted for them. He wasn't sure what worlds he and Rey would be allowed on again, but he was hoping he would get an idea of their options in the coming months. It wasn't bad to have guards around - their daughter would have grown up with the presence of Rey's guards had she been born in the First Order - but knowing that there were journalists hiding about near the property made Finn nervous. The New Republic made it clear that everyone needed to respect the privacy of the former Supreme Leader, but everyone still jumped at the chance to get a photo of her and anyone that was close to her. They worried if they were recognizable to the public, they would find themselves unable to live a peaceful life without fear of assassination attempts and paparazzi.

He looked around the house and quickly realized that his partner and daughter were not inside. Knowing that the nice day had turned into a nicer evening, Finn knew exactly where they were and headed towards the patio deck outside. There wasn't much to the back garden, just a few easy-keeper plants and a small covered deck, but the new parents were too busy and exhausted to make their own improvements at the moment.

Sure enough, Rey sat in one of the chairs at the small round table they often ate their dinners at, leaning back and staring out at the sky as she held a bundle in a blanket close to her breast. She looked more serene than Finn had seen her in years.

Finn approached and sat down in the chair next to her. Leaning forward, he kissed her on the forehead. “How are you?”

Humming, she moved herself so she pushed up against his shoulder. “It was a quiet day.” Moving her arms, she offered their daughter to Finn, who carefully took her into his arms.

Peering down, he saw her sleeping face, tawny skin and curls the same color as her mother’s, and smiled. He leaned down to kiss her on the cheek.

The baby yawned and for a reason he couldn't explain, Finn felt his heart overcome with joy. He looked back at Rey and saw that she mirrored his happiness.

She matched his grin, radiant and freely given.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus, this story has ended.
> 
> This was actually one of the easiest stories for me to write and I believe I wrote the whole draft within two months. I wanted to explore a side of the politics of Star Wars and the side of the bad guys that I don't see a lot of fanfics touch. My other question that I wanted to answer was if an evil government could change their ways and how that might look. 
> 
> I hope I did Finn and Rey justice here and allowed both of them to shine. There were times that I was worried that I was leaving Finn out of the important parts of the story because here, he isn't so into being involved in politics!
> 
> For all my readers that have followed this story since its first chapter, thank you for all your kind comments and encouragement. I believe writing these fanfics has made me a better writer.

**Author's Note:**

> To be updated Saturdays.
> 
> Warnings will be applied to the start of chapters when necessary.


End file.
